DOZENS of redundant workers at Melbourne's car parts manufacturer CMI are set to be fast-tracked millions of dollars in unpaid entitlements, after an emergency meeting between union officials and the federal employment minister.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) delegates met Bill Shorten yesterday in a bid to advance payments to 42 workers made redundant from two CMI Industrial sites, via the government's GEERS program.
AMWU assistant state secretary Leigh Diehm said the meeting was productive, and Mr Shorten had been receptive to the workers' needs.
"The minister has agreed to immediately make some of those GEERS funds available prior to liquidation for those who've been made redundant... He's taken a very pro-active approach to this," Mr Diehm told AAP.
Some of the workers had been with the company - which is in receivership - for more than 30 years, he said, with $30,000 the minimum amount owed to a single employee.
Details were being finalised, but workers were likely to receive smaller initial payments to keep them going before their full entitlements could be paid, Mr Diehm said.