Another mine to close?
By Bernie Brian
WOLLONGONG — Coal mining company Denehurst, owner of one of the oldest pits in NSW, has given a new meaning to the phrase "enterprise bargain". It has told 250 employees at the Metropolitan Colliery at Helensburgh, south of Sydney, that they must accept job losses and significant erosion of their conditions; otherwise, the mine will close.
The district vice president of the United Mineworkers Federation, Mick Pearce, called the company's stance "industrial blackmail". It provoked an immediate walkout by the mine's workers.
Pearce called the company's plan one of the biggest attacks on mine working conditions for years. Speaking on local ABC radio, he said, "There has been no consultation from the company. They called us to a meeting, put the arrangements on the table and gave us a month to sort it all out".
Company plans involve increasing output; bonus reductions; reduction of the work force by 32; implementation of a five-day, three-shift, eight-hour, rotating roster (miners currently work a fixed seven-hour roster including Saturdays); reduction in the number of workers in a panel and changes to other work procedures.