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A recent mining strike will continue after leadership and employees failed to reach an agreement.
As covered recently by HR Leader, employees at South32 Appin Mine halted work for seven days after receiving an industrial agreement that failed to include fair rostering, public holidays, or fair pay.
This stoppage will continue as management fails to appeal to the disgruntled workers. Collieries’ Staff and Officials Association (CSOA) lead organiser Belinda Giblin said that until the leaders of South32 recognise the issues, the strike will continue.
“While talks were ongoing and South32 has indicated that they would consider their position on several matters raised by workers, unfortunately, no agreement was reached,” said Ms Giblin.
“We hope to recommence negotiations with the company soon. We call on South32 to consider our issues and return to the bargaining table with a fair deal as soon as possible so we all can get on with the job.”
The last week has seen negotiations fail again, with workers voting to extend the work halt until 1 September.
“Mine supervisors have demonstrated their commitment to ensuring that their industrial action gets a result by voting to extend their current work stoppage, which was due to end on 25 August, a further week, until 1 September,” Ms Giblin explained.
“To date, South32 has not come back with a formal offer that addresses any of our concerns … We once again call on the company to come forward with an offer that provides fair and reasonable workplace conditions and remuneration.”
The workers are still after the same benefits as they were initially aiming for, including appropriate leave, certainty around weekend work, and improved work/life balance.
Ms Giblin continued: “This is about workers having a reasonable work/life balance where they can spend time with their families, take the kids on holidays, or care for sick relatives.”
“We are simply seeking to have those arrangements – which South32 says they are committed to – brought into the workplace agreement so they are guaranteed and can be enforced. It’s time for South32 to end this work stoppage by coming to the table with a fair and reasonable offer for workers.”
These talks have been ongoing for several months, with assistance from the Fair Work Commission being requested.
“Given that we have been negotiating with South32 for over eight months with little progress, workers have now lodged a bargaining dispute in the Fair Work Commission and seek their assistance in resolving the dispute,” Ms Giblin outlined.
“Additionally, despite workers turning the mine around from a loss-making enterprise into one that has made a USD $1.38 billion profit this year in just 12 months, South32 continues to refuse to offer a fair pay raise or a production bonus.”
She added: “While the South32 CEO receives a salary of AUD $4.3 million a year, and the Chief Operations Officer makes around AUD $2 million, they expect the workers who made the mine a success to be content with a pay rise that, after inflation, essentially amounts to a pay cut. This is completely unfair and has also been unacceptable to workers.”
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Industrial relations is the management and evaluation of the interactions between employers, workers, and representative organisations like unions.
Jack Campbell
Jack is the editor at HR Leader.
