Australian Workers Union official John Boyd said the plan had been outlined to the union and its delegates on Wednesday morning.

Mr Boyd said five of the jobs would be transferred permanently to Ravensworth.

Twelve would stay at Mount Thorley to finish existing work until May next year, and another eight jobs would move to Glendell for the same length of time.

The remaining 37 positions would be made redundant on December 2.

‘‘There is no good time to be made redundant but it is a further slap in the face for half of the employees who have been given 12 days’ notice that they are losing their jobs just before Christmas,’’ Mr Boyd said.

He said WesTrac also ran a field service division at Mount Thorley but this did not appear to be affected at this time.

The Newcastle Herald is seeking comment from WesTrac but parent company Seven Group Holdings told investors at its annual general meeting on Wednesday that times were tough.

Chairman Kerry Stokes said many of WesTrac’s customers were ‘‘experiencing significant pressure due to falling commodity prices’’ and the business had been restructured to ‘‘right-size the labour force’’.

Chief executive Don Voelte said that up to 10per cent of the equipment that WesTrac supplied and serviced was ‘‘parked up’’ at various mines, and not being used.

‘‘This has facilitated component cannaibalising to reduce cash burn with a consequent reduction in our service and parts market and very limited demand for new equipment,’’ Mr Voelte said.

Chief financial officer Richard Richards said redundancies, cuts to contractors and natural attrition would result in a ‘‘triple-digit’’ workforce reduction.

This appears to indicate that more than 100 positions were being cut from the business overall. 

The story WesTrac cuts jobs first appeared on Newcastle Herald.