Luke Cornish is a Rail, Bus and Tram Union member at the Alstom facility in Ballarat, and he spoke at a union-organised rally on Wednesday.

He said the factory, in its hey-day, employed more than 800 people - now there are about 65.

"But, there's a chance that could still happen again," he told the crowd.

A motion was passed unanimously in the rain by about 50 workers and other representatives from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Rail, Tram, and Bus Union, and Electrical Trades Union, calling on Premier Daniel Andrews to immediately seek a meeting with the union shop committee "to discuss the future of this shop and to hear about what's happening to workers today".

Workers are waiting for news about ongoing work at the factory, which builds Melbourne's metropolitan trains - it's done so since 2002, and the latest order is expected to be finished by the end of May, ahead of schedule.

READ MORE: Workers to hold rally at Ballarat's Alstom train factory

While the company has submitted designs for the next generation, there's no word on whether Alstom will get the contract, which leaves workers in the lurch.

This isn't the first time this has happened to the workers, who are subject to the whims of the state government - they've built more than 600 carriages over the years so far, and they're keen to keep going, but the last few years have been

Blair Pertzel was in the factory when Premier Daniel Andrews visited in 2015 to commit to ongoing work.

He was one of the last workers to be hired permanently, more than seven years ago.

"Everyone else has been contract-by-contract," he said.

"My young bloke's 18, he's doing a pre-apprenticeship course as an electrician, it'd be great for him to get a job here one day, but it's not looking likely at the moment."

His colleague Mark Brogan was not at the factory when the premier came to visit because he was on one of those contract-to-contract gigs.

"It's very frustrating, in the gaps in between you're looking for another job - your contract finishes up and if they can extend you they will, if not, you're out the door and looking for something else until they call you to come back," he said.

"I enjoy the work, it's a good bunch of blokes."

Some workers have only just joined up - Liam Gann and Luke Culbert have been commuting from Geelong for the last few months.

"I'd move the family up (if there was a new contract)," Mr Culbert said.

"It doesn't feel great, that's for sure, you sign up for a job and then it could be all over already, there's so much uncertainty at the moment."

Nicole Campbell, a Ballarat electrician, completed part of her apprenticeship at Alstom.

She said it was "scary" not knowing if she would keep her new job, and wouldn't want to have to move.

"It wouldn't be fun working in Melbourne but some people do it," she said.

"Staying in Ballarat, getting more people here, would be better for Ballarat, that's for sure."

The RBTU's rolling stock infrastructure organiser Bryan Evans said the drip-feed had to stop.

"It's 2019, we've got a booming rail industry, there's more manufacturing, construction, more rail lines, more services - we need these trains," he said.

"The new high capacity trains (are) being built at Newport, and that only solves part of the problem, the rest of the Comeng (previous train fleet) retirement's going to leave a huge gap in the state's rail plans to fill."

That's echoed by the union's state secretary Luba Grigorovitch.

"Unfortunately, not myself nor any of the other unions have heard from the minister for public transport or the premier on this issue," she said.

"(Meetings about Alstom) have not happened, I have raised with the minister, but it really feels like it's falling on deaf ears."

The state government stood by its previous statement that it was working closely with the company.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.