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Tag: CFMEU

Union drops $16m coal worker class action

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

The Mining and Energy Union has dropped a class action seeking about $16 million in entitlements for about 900 current and former casual miners employed by labour hire company WorkPac.

The Renyard v WorkPac class action was discontinued due to legal advice it could not succeed due to the recent High Court Rossato judgment and laws introduced by the Federal Government in March, the union said.

CFMEU Mining and Energy general president Tony Maher said casual coal miners had hoped the class action would deliver justice, compensation and an end to the toxic ‘permanent casual’ employment model in the coal. . .

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Union members vote down BMA enterprise agreement offer

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

Union-related mineworkers have rejected the latest proposed enterprise agreement with BMA.

BMA, a joint venture between BHP and Mitsubishi Development, operates seven Bowen Basin mines including Goonyella Riverside, Broadmeadow, Daunia, Peak Downs, Saraji, Blackwater and Caval Ridge.

The agreement proposal attracted a resounding 96 percent ‘no-vote’ this week from 1494 EA employees, the majority of which are CFMEU Mining and Energy Union members.

Bid for job security

Job security was at the heart of the issue said CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland District Vice President Jeff Scales.

The issue had been headlined in the interim with. . .

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High Court overturns casual worker ruling

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Energy.

A decision in a High Court appeal backed by the Federal Government has dashed the hopes of casual miners seeking justice, according to the CFMEU. 

Overturning a Federal Court ruling that a casually employed mine worker was actually working on a permanent basis and entitled to back-paid leave entitlements, the High Court found his employment was on an “assignment by assignment” basis.

The union said the WorkPac v Rossato appeal judgment wound back important wins for casuals established in the Skene and Rossato Federal Court decisions.

However, Mining and Energy general president Tony. . .

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Labour hire woes aired in public hearing

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

Labour hire workers are treated like second-class citizens at Central Queensland coal operations, a Senate inquiry on job security has heard.

Rockhampton-based pump crew operator Chad Stokes was among the individuals giving evidence yesterday on behalf of the CFMEU.

"I've been in labour hire ... for seven years. There just aren't any permanent jobs being offered anymore," he said.

"I work the same roster and shifts as the permanent workers on my crew. I have no job security. I get paid less and it's really hard to take time off."

Mr Stokes said. . .

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Job security hearings take mining focus

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal.

Mackay's Resource Industry Network and mining union the CFMEU are among those due to front a public hearing today by the Senate Select Committee on Job Security.

The committee is tasked with inquiring into and reporting on the impact of insecure or precarious employment on the economy, wages, social cohesion and workplace rights and conditions.

Casualisation of the workforce has been a hot-button issue in the Central Queensland coalfields, with the CFMEU campaigning to end what it describes as 'the permanent casual rort'.

CFMEU general president Tony Maher said there was some dispute over the rate of casualisation. . .

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Workplace scene - lockers, hardhats, jobs

Union acts on job security at Grosvenor

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

The CFMEU has filed an application with the Fair Work Commission challenging ‘maximum term’ employment contracts for labour hire workers at Central Queensland's Grosvenor coal mine.

The union said the contracts provided for a 12-month extension but also stated the One Key workers may be sacked any time or have their contracts extended.

CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland President Stephen Smyth said workers were recently given the contracts at very short notice, being told they would lose their jobs if they didn’t sign or would be presumed to be accepting the terms if they continued showing up. . .

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Call for action on workforce hit by energy transition

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy, Processing / Manufacturing.

The union representing coal-fired power station workers and affected miners is calling on the Queensland Government to make good on transition funding as the State moves towards new energy sources.

The CFMEU said the Palaszczuk Government had made a promise before the last election to ensure re-training and business development was pursued in relevant regional areas, but funding for these transitional arrangements was missing from this week’s Budget.

While money had been allocated to renewable energy projects in other districts, no funding had been allocated to help those regional areas transitioning from the carbon economy, it said. . .

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Grosvenor workers ‘seriously let down’ on safety – union

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy, Processing / Manufacturing.

The Coal Mining Board of Inquiry’s final report paints a shocking picture of safety management at Anglo’s Grosvenor mine, the CFMEU says.

CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland president Stephen Smyth welcomed the release of the comprehensive report after an investigation sparked by an explosion at that mine last year.

He said the union would review all its findings and recommendations in the days and weeks ahead.

Mr Smyth said the most shocking thing to come out of the report was the detailed account of Anglo’s failure to manage dangerous gases at Grosvenor in the months leading up. . .

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Brady Review author to lead Callide power probe

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

Forensic engineer Dr Sean Brady has been engaged to lead an independent investigation into the Callide Power Station fire that sparked a massive outage throughout Queensland last month.

Dr Brady is the man behind the recent Brady Review investigation into the causes of fatalities in the state’s mining and quarrying industry.

CS Energy said other stakeholders were also investigating what had occurred at Callide, including Workplace Health & Safety Queensland and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

It is expected to take a year to bring the generating unit at. . .

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Union on warpath over power plant danger

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

The CFMEU is calling for answers on the work practices of Government Owned Corporations, saying last week's Callide Power Station explosion only narrowly avoided serious injury and death.

The union's Mining and Energy division said site inspections revealed shrapnel punched holes in the walls, roof and shielding of the turbine hall - with part of the turbine flying hundreds of metres.

A large piece of metal was embedded in the roof and had to be removed by a crane crew as it posed an ongoing risk to workers.

CFMEU Mining and Energy vice president Shane Brunker said failure to. . .

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Sanction, formal warning for civil companies

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Processing / Manufacturing.

A Queensland company has been banned from tendering for Federal Government work for one month and a second company received a formal warning after Australian Building and Construction Commission investigations.

Industrial Relations Minister Michaela Cash has issued a one-month exclusion sanction against MCP (AUS) Pty Ltd.

It comes after a mobile concrete pump truck with a 60m boom toppled while working on the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing project.

The ABCC said that the concrete pump truck had been incorrectly set up, resulting in the boom overbalancing and the crane tipping over. No one was injured in the incident.

MCP. . .

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Moranbah’s milestone May Day weekend

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Energy, Gold.

May Day weekend brought a double-barreled golden celebration at Moranbah, with the community belatedly marking its 50th anniversary and the influential CFMEU Goonyella Riverside Lodge also marking 50 years.

“The history books will tell you that Utah built Moranbah, but it was the community that built this town,” commented Isaac Regional Council deputy Mayor Kelly Vea Vea.

CFMEU Mining and Energy reported a strong turn-out for the traditional Labour Day march, with more than 300 people joining.

Local CFMEU lodges, retired miners, and family groups participated as well as other unions including teachers, nurses, AMWU, ETU and AWU. . .

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Mining arm advances push to break away from CFMMEU

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

The Mining and Energy Division has applied to the Fair Work Commission for a member ballot to leave the CFMMEU and form an independent union.

The application and ‘scheme of withdrawal’ was unanimously approved by the Mining and Energy Division’s Central Council this week.

The application proposes a future standalone union, the Mining and Energy Union (MEU), which would cover existing members of the Mining and Division of the CFMMEU.

CFMMEU Mining and Energy said the Fair Work Commission would now determine the process and timing for the member ballot.

If a majority of members vote ‘yes’ to separating. . .

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IR bill a blow for casual mineworkers says union

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy, Processing / Manufacturing.

A pared-back IR bill that passed through the Senate is a blow to casual mineworkers, overturning important court decisions finding they have been unlawfully exploited by mining and labour hire companies, a key union says.

Meanwhile the Minerals Council of Australia has expressed its disappointment at the failure to include reforms that would accelerate the approval of enterprise agreements and allow longer greenfields agreements for major projects.

The Federal Government was forced to strip down its Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery. . .

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Inquiry into Grosvenor Mine explosion sits again

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy.

The Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry will begin a second round of public hearings in Brisbane tomorrow (Tues 9 March).

The Board of Inquiry was established to look into the underground explosion at Anglo American’s Grosvenor mine on 6 May last year, as well as various high-potential incidents involving methane limits exceeded in other longwall mines in the year. . .

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Anglo to approach mine safety incidents separately

Written by dev on . Posted in All News, Coal, Energy, Processing / Manufacturing.

Anglo American says there is no correlation between incidents that shut down its two Queensland mines in the last 12 months.

Moranbah North was shut down last month on elevated gas readings.

An incident at Grosvenor Mine in May last year resulted in an underground explosion which left five men seriously injured.

CEO of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business, Tyler Mitchelson, says they had begun a series of briefings to update the Queensland workforce on the investigation and re-entry process to Moranbah North.

The Grosvenor event is. . .

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