Labour hire miners form new Grosvenor Lodge

Workers at the Grosvenor coal mine near Moranbah have formed a new Mining and Energy Union Lodge, attracting about 150 members in a month. The new Lodge is comprised entirely of labour hire members, and the new leaders say that ‘same job same pay’ is high on their list of priorities. Its formation came 18 months after the underground explosion that left five workers at the Anglo American mine seriously injured and sparked the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry. A CFMEU Mining and Energy Union podcast has been released, telling the story of how the Grosvenor miners are ready to take on their employer One Key, Anglo American and the labour hire business model. (Listen HERE) Grosvenor Lodge president Steven Hall said that since the new Lodge was officially formed on October 31 it had received strong support from the workforce as well as from surrounding Lodges. “It’s amazing, the support we're actually getting from all the other Lodges around the area – Goonyella Riverside, Moranbah North and Grasstree just to name a few – they have just been so supportive and we are really thankful for that. It makes you feel like you’re in a team, it makes you feel stronger.” Queensland District President Steve Smyth said it was the first Queensland Lodge that was 100 per cent labour hire employees rather than permanent employees of the mine. “It’s a remarkable achievement that these men and women have stood up, prepared to stand their ground, to have a collective voice and they’re all labour hire employees or subcontractors - it's very remarkable, particularly in the environment that they’re working in and particularly against a pretty hostile employer,” he said. The union said a priority for the new Lodge was getting to the bottom of what happened in May last year, when workers were burned in an horrific methane explosion at the longwall tailgate. “When something like that happens at a coal mine it really affects all coal mine workers throughout the industry, but when it happens at your own mine it compounds that tenfold," Mr Hall said. "You can’t imagine the pain the boys on the face went through, nobody will understand. "To have it happen to your friends, to people you know, is really traumatising. The boys who went to their rescue ... they are going to remember seeing their friends on fire, having to put them out physically with their own hands.” Lodge secretary Scott Jensen said the site of the explosion had been sealed and the causes may never be known for sure. Anglo had come up with a number of root causes and had put controls into place to manage them. "As a lodge we want to keep them honest and raise any concerns that the members have," he said. Mr Jensen said also the the Lodge would be fighting the labour hire work model. “I’m a strong believer in ‘same job same pay’," he said. "Other Anglo mines are primarily employed by Anglo whereas we at Grosvenor are 100% labour hire employed by One Key and the pay differences are huge - up to 60 odd grand a year less for us."

Labour hire miners form new Grosvenor Lodge

Industry Queensland

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