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20 September, 2010
Two sharp-edged coal disputes in Queensland and New South Wales are concluding, with branches of ICEM Australian affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) gaining the best possible terms for some combined 570 mineworkers.
In northern Queensland, 233 miners employed by mining contractor Theiss of Leighton Holdings at the Collinsville mine reached terms within an enterprise agreement with Theiss in early September that provides them wage increases, improved housing allowances, and job security.
The two-year-long dispute erupted late in July 2010 when miners launched a continuous strike. The 16-day strike was heroically marked by miners, spouses, and partners blocking tracks and turning back trains loaded with coal. The Collinsville mine is majority-held by Xstrata but Theiss and Leighton, a subsidiary of German construction giant Hochtief, operate the mine exclusively.
CFMEU Members at the Tahmoor Mine
The other long dispute coming to conclusion is with Swiss-based Xstrata at the Tahmoor mine in New South Wales. Some 240 miners likely will vote approvingly for the company’s last offer this week. If approved, the CFMEU will retain enterprise labour agreements under Fair Work Australia, something that Xstrata was resisting in attempting to roll back union-protected work rules to the days of former Tory Prime Minister John Howard.
The 22-month dispute at Tahmoor was marked by lockouts and strikes, the latest a 19-day lockout that ended 7 September. During that lockout, a Fair Work Australia judge turned back Xstrata Coal’s application to scrub the enterprise agreements at Tahmoor, basically stating that CFMEU had the legitimate workplace right to protect job security.
Xstrata was seeking broad flexibility over workplace policies and procedures, without union involvement, while the union sought assurances against job replacements by contractors and greater roles in rosters and other on-the-job work rules.