Idemitsu Australia Resources has proposed to make its Boggabri Coal employees the highest paid open-cut mine workers in the Gunnedah Basin in New South Wales.
The Japanese company has agreed to increase its workers’ remuneration by 2.5–3.5 per cent a year, while ensuring they receive training for a number of skills over time.
Idemitsu’s proposed agreement came as a result of a dispute concerning its employees with workers union group CFMMEU.
In this period, the CFMMEU has conducted work stoppages and peddled false and misleading claims to the Boggabri Coal employees and the community, Idemitsu claimed in a media statement.
“(We are) yet to reach agreement with the CFMMEU and employee representatives after 11 meetings over seven months,” Idemitsu stated.
“Boggabri Coal has been negotiating in good faith, and it is time the CFMMEU put their members first ahead of trying to get headlines in the media.”
Idemitsu has included around 20 proposed changes to conditions in the agreement, including annual salary for standard pays each fortnight, bonus to be 100 per cent product coal and shorter notice for annual leave not unreasonably withheld.
The company believes this will provide increased benefits and flexibility to its employees.
Boggabri Coal has also moved a total mining workforce of around 400 hundred workers from labour hire arrangements over to permanent employment.
“The CFMMEU’s campaign to date has been disingenuous. Despite claiming that the pay and conditions of our employees ‘don’t reflect industry standards’, it is the CFMMEU who signed off on previous and current enterprise agreements in 2015, 2016 and 2018,” Idemitsu stated.
“They simply cannot have it both ways.”