News

Hydrogen is being touted as the next generation fuel for cars, power stations and homes. A new pilot project in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley will use brown coal to produce hydrogen for export to Japan and could kick off a new commercial industry.

In the first instance, the hydrogen made from Latrobe Valley coal will power vehicles during the Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed until next year. Longer term, it is hoped the pilot plant will kick off a local commercial hydrogen industry and generate coal mining jobs to service it.

The Miners’ Union is urging BHP not to again force its Operations Services workforce to work this Christmas and Boxing Day, but rather to apply the long-standing practice of calling for volunteers and providing extra remuneration.

Western Australia's parliament has passed industrial manslaughter laws which will enforce a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment for workplace deaths.

Unions including the CFMEU campaigned fiercely for passage of the Work Health and Safety Bill. 
Last week, workers rallied outside Parliament House just days after construction apprentice Jonnie Hartshorn was killed on the job at Curtin University. 

Casual coal miners should be wary about joining a class action being run by profit-driven litigation firm Adero after a Federal Court judge slammed a recent settlement for leaving workers with ‘diddly squat’.

In a class action against marketing firm Appco over sham contracting arrangements leaving over 1000 workers with below-minimum pay and conditions, Adero estimated the claim was worth $65 million.

BHP’s announcement today it will invest in more apprenticeships is a hollow promise, with existing training programs failing to provide Queenslanders with transferable skills and qualifications, the Miners’ Union said today.

CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland President Stephen Smyth said trainees at BHP’s maintenance facility at Paget in Mackay had been shocked and disappointed to learn that programs they signed up for would not deliver a full trades qualification.

Aboriginal and older labour hire mineworkers classified as vulnerable to COVID have been stranded without pay for months after BHP excluded them from the workplace but refused to pay their wages.

The Miners’ Union is now fighting to recover the lost pay of affected workers at Mount Arthur coal mine in the Hunter Valley.

Do you have what it takes to become part of a highly motivated and dedicated team of Union organisers that are at the forefront of industrial organising?  This is a Mackay based fulltime position, working within the Queensland Mining areas and associated communities. 

The CFMEU, Mining and Energy Division’s Members work in underground and open cut coal and metals mines, the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the petrochemical industry, coal ports and iron ore mining and transportation.

Responsibilities and Duties:

Senator Matt Canavan wrote to the Union saying he was confused about our concerns about casualisation in mining. Queensland District President Stephen Smyth set him straight with this response:

Dear Senator Canavan,

As a long-term political representative of Central Queensland coal communities I am surprised that you are confused about rights for casual miners, but please let me clarify the issues for you.

Queensland coal miners would not welcome overtures from LNP politicians to assist with political campaigning until they address the mass casualisation of permanent coal mining jobs across Queensland’s coal fields, the Miners’ Union said today.

Outgoing Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham will be remembered by coal miners for tackling the scourge of mine dust lung diseases which had been neglected by governments for decades, the Miners Union said today.