The federal government-owned shipbuilder ASC is laying off 223 workers in South Australia ahead of the air warfare destroyer project winding down.



The third and final ship, Sydney, is expected to be ready by late 2019.

An ASC spokesman said up to 223 positions would be reduced by early June.



“The company anticipates that the number of people required to leave the business will be reduced due to transfer opportunities to ASC’s submarine’s business,” the spokesman said.

Voluntary and non-voluntary redundancy packages will also be offered. The company signalled there would be six weeks of talks with its workforce.



The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said it understood the bulk of the job cuts were permanent full-time and highly skilled positions and vowed to fight the job cuts.



The SA assistant state secretary, Peter Bauer, said the defence industry minister, Christopher Pyne, had broken a promise to the workers.



“Only a few months ago, minister Pyne was out, with a silver shovel, turning over soil at ASC and saying that the valley of death is over,” he told reporters in Adelaide. “He needs to explain to those workers and to the workers behind me why that statement was made and today we had 197 workers be told that they’re going to be leaving the ASC workforce.”

Bauer said the union had rung Pyne’s office a number of times during the day and was waiting for a response.

“We’re going to be saying to him that’s not good enough, what happened to your commitments?” he said. “If he’s worth his salt ... he’ll do something about it.”.

ASC is expected to start work on the first two offshore patrol vessels later this year and hopes to build the navy’s new fleet of frigates.

The air warfare destroyer project has been marred by delays and cost blow-outs.