Shipyard workers warn of job losses

Local shipyards may be heading the same way as car manufacturers if they can't escape what the industry dubs the "valley of death".

Labor and unions fear the jobs of 3800 workers are at risk without a budget commitment for Australian projects.

They say if the government does not act soon, the shipbuilding industry could die in the "valley of death", the industry-wide term for the period between the end of existing projects and the start of new ones.

"The notion that the industry be allowed to whither and go the same way as our automotive industry is a nonsense," Labor frontbencher David Feeney told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union wants to hear more from the government about a $1.5 billion commitment in the budget for defence procurement projects.

"You cannot turn this industry on and off like a tap," assistant national secretary Glenn Thompson said.

Mechanical fitter Robert Proctor, 33, who works for Newcastle-based shipyard Forgacs, believes he could be out of a job within the month.

"Don't send the jobs overseas, keep them in Australia, keep an industry alive, otherwise this industry will be dead," he said.