Melbourne caravan workers classified essential

Victoria's RV manufacturing industry has breathed a collective sigh of relief, with thousands of Melbourne caravan factory workers classified as 'essential workers' and allowed to go to work under the latest snap five-day COVID-19 "circuit-breaker" lockdown.

Many Melbourne RV manufacturers including Jayco originally assumed they would have to shut operations at least until February 18 following the announcement late last week of the state's latest lockdown restrictions.

However, according to Epping, Victoria-based Crusader Caravans, the Caravan Industry Victoria has confirmed that "manufacturing can remain operating during the Victorian 5-day lockdown under strict COVID-19 conditions for essential employees".

"This is fantastic news for our industry and we look forward to continuing to manufacture high-quality Crusader Caravans for our customers," the big-selling caravan builder said on social media. "Our factory will be operating as per our existing trading hours and under strict compliance with our COVID-19 Safe Plan."

Paul Rodriguez, the factory manager at another big-selling Melbourne caravan manufacturer, JB Caravans, also confirmed that it was 'business as usual' at the large Campbellfield factory, which has more than 100 employees producing around 20-25 caravans a week.

Melbourne caravan manufacturers, which account for as much as 90 per cent (or around 18,000 units) of annual Australian RV production, are already facing huge order backlogs, due to extended Stage 4 factory shutdowns in 2020 and increasing demand for recreational vehicles.

Apart from some exceptions, many manufacturers hold customer orders that won't be delivered until early-2022, with production delays compounded by hold ups in deliveries of parts and appliances from major suppliers.

While caravan factories have been allowed to stay open, it's believed Victoria-based caravan dealers and service repair centres will have to remain closed until restrictions lift on Thursday, provided the latest COVID-19 outbreak, believed to be the more infectious British variant, is classed as contained.