Wollongong is a place of contrasts. There are towering rainforests, pristine beaches, busy malls and peaceful parks. Many things seem unrelated, but under the pavements and sand the city’s veins are fed by one pulsing heart. A heart that’s made of steel.
The Port Kembla Steel Works, now known as Blue Scope Steel, has been operating in the area since 1928. Thousands of migrants travelled to Australia from overseas to work in its plants, developing the Illawarra region into what it is today. These days, over 500,000 people across the nation rely on the company for their livelihood.
Last year Blue Scope decided to close its pickle line and cold mill operations, a section of the company which had been producing steel products for 45 years. The jobs of over 80 employees were cut, leaving 50 men redeployed to other sections of the steel works and 30 contractors and service providers unemployed.
Many of the pickle line’s workers had woken up and gone to work at the same job, with the same people, all of their adult lives. Twelve months on, they now find themselves thrust into new environments, many of which they have had to retrain to work in, establishing new relationships and adjusting to the social and financial pressures which have resulted from the line's closure.
