Locked-out Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT) workers will strike for seven days from Saturday as their fight for job security intensifies.
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The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has accused PKCT management of “playing silly games” during enterprise agreement negotiations and says workers have been left with no choice but to take industrial action.
The workers were supposed to return to work this Saturday, following the end of a PKCT-imposed, seven-day lockout; the latest chapter in an ongoing industrial dispute between the company and its workforce.
CFMEU district vice president Bob Timbs said the key sticking point in negotiations was PKCT management’s refusal to carry over a previous job security clause, which prevents a sacked permanent employee being replaced by a casual.
“The union cannot agree to the removal of a legally enforceable clause that protects our members from being sacked and replaced by contractors,” Mr Timbs said.
On Wednesday, the PKCT said it was “offering long-term job security for its blue-collar workers” in the new enterprise agreement.
“The management of PKCT has provided the written assurance on job security out of the goodwill it continues to demonstrate to its permanent workforce and in a bid to end the industrial action the company has faced since December, 2017,” the PKCT said in a statement.
Mr Timbs accused the company of “playing silly games ... by jotting down a few hollow statements of intent and offering that as a job security clause”.
“But you can't put feathers on a dog and call it a chicken. And it's insulting to workers, and the Illawarra community, to try,” he said.
“Because of the company's refusal to negotiate reasonably on this pivotal point our members have been left with no choice. They will strike and they will continue to take industrial action until a decent outcome is reached.”
The locked-out workers have been picketing outside the coal terminal entrance since Monday.
Negotiations over a new enterprise agreement have been ongoing for almost five years, with workers locked out on a number of occasions in the past year.
PKCT – which is owned and operated by mining companies South 32, Glencore, Peabody Energy, Centennial Coal and Wollongong Coal – said it was negotiating, in good faith, with its employees and the CFMEU.
Andrew Pearson
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
