A spokesman for the company reportedly told the Maitland Mercury that Emeco is in consultation with the affected workers at its Rutherford plant and redeployment options and out-placement support have been offered to them.

“The redundancies are reflective of the current market conditions and necessary for Emeco to align our workforce with the current volume of work at the Rutherford workshop,” the spokesman reportedly said.

The employees made redundant included apprentices at a time when traineeships are being wound back in the industry.

“There may have been a number of apprentices in the 13, but it was definitely not entirely apprentices.

“The redundancies were across our NSW business and impacted all levels.”