Miners at Wongawilli colliery have voted to take industrial action in the new year over a dispute over pay and conditions.
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CFMEU Southwestern District Vice President Bob Timbs said the entire Wongawilli workforce, of about 100 mineworkers, was outsourced to contractors CAS Mining.
Mr Timbs said the union was negotiating an enterprise agreement for these workers with mine operators Wollongong Coal, owned by India’s Jindal Steel.
He said workers had voted to take industrial action to further their claim for better pay and industry standard conditions.
The arrangement between CAS and Wollongong Coal, he added, exposed the “rort” surrounding the use of labour hire in the mining industry.
“Wollongong Coal holds the purse strings and CAS has to run everything by them, down to what clauses they can have in their agreement,” he said.
“If CAS is genuinely the employer, they should be able to negotiate it themselves.”
Mr Timbs said the casual workers were “underpaid, stood over and have zero rights”.
“They are hundreds of dollars a week worse off than permanent workers in surrounding mines,” he said.
“Our aim is to get them a decent pay rate and industry standard conditions like accident pay, annual leave and sick leave.
“It’s nothing out of the ordinary, it’s just what others have and they deserve.
“This is classic exploitation of local workers by a mining multinational.
“Wongawilli is a perfect example of why we need to change the rules to protect workers.”
The Mercury attempted to contact Wollongong Coal for comment.