Eighty-eight forklift drivers and packers were told they would lose their jobs at the Bonds distribution centre in Minto in southwestern Sydney last week.

Another 18 jobs will also be shed at the Berlei distribution centre in Wentworthville in western Sydney, that deals with bras and briefs.

The company said it was shifting operations to a new distribution centre in Truganina in Melbourne, where 76 fulltime jobs have already been created.

"It's close to rail. It's close to the air and its close to the sea," a spokesman for the company said.”

"It will allow us to operate a lot more efficiently.”

"We are creating hopefully a similar number of jobs in Melbourne."

But the National Union of Workers (NUW) NSW attacked the company, saying it had turned its back on loyal workers.

" It was a shock to all of them (the workers). They had no warning of this decision," the NUW NSW spokesperson Mark Ptolemy said in a statement.

"To add insult to injury the workers were told that they could apply for the positions in Victoria, as if that was some kind of consolation to having their jobs pulled out from under them.”

"The decision was callous and disloyal to Pacific Brands workers," he said.

The union called on NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to intervene and stop the job haemorrhage.

But the Government said it had contacted the company in an attempt to stop the shedding of jobs, but nothing could be done.

"I've spoken with the Pacific Brands CEO to see if there was anything the NSW Government could do to change their mind," Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Stoner said in a statement yesterday.

"Unfortunately, there wasn't."

The NSW Government said workers would be offered support, including assistance and retraining.

"My heart goes out to the workers affected by this decision today, as well as the handful of NSW employees impacted by Qantas's announcement," Stoner said.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said the government acted too late to save the jobs.

"Andrew Stoner should have been in discussions with Pacific Brands about opportunities to keep these jobs in western Sydney long before the day they announced the 106 job cuts," Mr Robertson said in a statement.

"One of the primary roles of the Minister for Trade and Investment is to secure and protect jobs in NSW.

"Simply speaking with Pacific Brands on the afternoon they announce 106 workers will be retrenched is too little, too late."