News

The mining union has slammed South 32 for killing local business, Southern Colliery Maintenance (SCM), due to its current campaign to eliminate all decent employers from its Illawarra sites.



SCM has been formally put on notice by South 32 that its long-standing contract at Appin colliery will be terminated within weeks. As a result the local owners of SCM – Bill Polychrone, Mark Gazzola, and Paul de Leeuw – have informed their 126 employees the company will be closing.



Born in the Illawarra, SCM has employed locals in the region for 21 years.

More workers have been told they’ll be forced on to lower pay and conditions on or lose their jobs at South32’s Appin mine as the Miners Union launches a new campaign to protect rights for casual miners.



Mining companies have steadily outsourced thousands of direct permanent jobs in recent years and Southern District coal miners have felt the impact, with multinationals like South32 only employing  workers  through labour hire companies to drive down wages and conditions.



The Miners Union today launches a nationwide campaign urging MPs in mining communities to support the rights of long-term casual mineworkers against an employer push to legalise ‘permanent casual’ employment.

CFMEU Mining and Energy General President Tony Maher has written to BHP CEO Mike Henry, calling on the company to end the unfair pay differential between Operations Services and direct BHP employees and offer the same pay for the same work, by employing them under existing site enterprise agreements.

A letter from Operations Services Vice President Mark Swinnerton in response confirmed the company had no interest in closing the gap in pay and conditions with direct BHP employees. He claimed that ‘no concerns about these terms and conditions have been raised by our employees.’

The Miners’ Union is calling on the NSW Government to back the revised Tahmoor South mine extension plan put forward by Simec’s Tahmoor Coal.
 
The new plan responds to community feedback and guarantees good local jobs as the state deals with the economic fallout from COVID-19.
 
CFMEU Mining and Energy South Western Vice-President Bob Timbs says the project is vital for securing a strong future for the local community.
 

Today’s anniversary of the 1979 Appin mine disaster is a reminder about the risks taken by underground mineworkers and the importance of putting safety first, the Miners’ Union said today.
 

Our former General Secretary Andrew Vickers looks back at the historical mine tragedies that have made July such a sad month for coal mining communities. Those who have lost their lives in mining disasters and the lessons from each event will never be forgotten.

BHP’s sneaky attempt to avoid negotiating with its large new Operations Services in-house labour hire workforce has come unstuck with the Fair Work Commission reaffirming that two Enterprise Agreements covering them could not be approved.

In a full bench decision, a majority upheld the CFMEU’s appeal against approval of the agreements over concerns they weren’t genuinely agreed by workers.



The CFMEU Mining & Energy Division has today welcomed the strengthening of Queensland's mine safety laws, while noting more can and should be done to keep mine workers safe on site.



After years of advocacy from mine workers and their union, the Queensland Government today introduced Australia's toughest mine safety laws. This includes industrial manslaughter laws that will see executives facing up to 20 years’ jail if a worker dies due to criminal negligence.



South32 management called off a meeting with the Miners’ Union scheduled for today to address the company’s job and pay cuts for hundreds of labour hire workers at Appin coal mine.