Tradies and coal workers at Russell Vale gave ‘‘100 per cent effort to make their mine viable’’ and through no fault of their own had ended up on the unemployment line, their union said.
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CFMEU south-western district vice-president Bob Timbs said Wollongong Coal’s decision to cease operations at Russell Vale came as no surprise but was still ‘‘bitterly disappointing’’ at a time when the Illawarra was facing huge pressures on its traditional steel and mining industries – ‘‘what this town is built on’’.
‘‘We haven’t got an accurate number yet of how many of our members are affected but we will be meeting with the company tomorrow,’’ Mr Timbs said after Tuesday’s announcement.
‘‘We represent black coal award operators and trades, and for us we have about 30 members left there,’’ he said.
‘‘We don’t know just how many are affected but we will start consultation.’’
Mr Timbs put the company on notice, saying it would be seeking assurances if it expected union support going forward.
‘‘If they want our help and support going forward the CFMEU will be seeking some undertakings from the company on who will be left to do the care and maintenance roles at the mine and when the mine does start production again that those positions will be full-time and covered by enterprise agreement,’’ Mr Timbs said.
Mr Timbs said he sympathised with the company’s frustrations at the lengthy delays in securing approval to extract coal.
‘‘You can’t run a coal mine without cutting coal, yes we understand the company has been patient,’’ he said.
‘‘There needs to be safeguards in place to make sure coal companies are 100 per cent committed to the environment and local community concerns but surely there must be something put in place to expedite this process.
‘‘They haven’t been able to cut longwall coal for some 18 months. Surely to god within a six-year period there should be enough time to make sure the company has been held accountable for environmental and water management concerns and any other compliance and surely to god it can’t take six years.’’
