THE Ashton Coal company was using workers as pawns in a bullyboy move to expand open-cut operations near Singleton, according to an Aboriginal spokesman.
A representative of the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network, Al Oshlack, said this in response to Ashton’s announcement late last week that 18 workers had been made redundant and the remaining 90 open-cut jobs were also on the chopping block.
Ashton’s chief operating officer Peter Barton blamed job losses on the state government’s failure to approve mine expansion.
The company had run out of options and now planned to put off the remaining 90 workers in six weeks, Mr Barton said.
The open-cut closure threat coincided with Land and Environment Court action by the Wonnarua people alleging Ashton had damaged one of the Hunter’s most significant Aboriginal sites.
Mr Oshlack said court action sought to stop Ashton’s underground pit, which had allegedly caused subsidence damage to an area which included womens’ sites and grinding grooves in and around Bowmans Creek, Camberwell.
Ashton media spokesman Chris Ford said he was unable to comment on the Aboriginal action as it was before the court.
Ashton has open-cut and underground operations, as well as a coal washery at its Camberwell mine.
The underground and washery jobs are understood not to be threatened.
United Mine Workers Union vice president Shane Thompson said union officials were working with company representatives on the open-cut issue.
He hoped the initial 18 redundancies would be on a voluntary basis.
Mr Thompson said he believed the open-cut would be closed in September if the government did not approve Ashton’s south east open-cut application.
“We’d like to see the matter dealt with one way or another so the workers know where they stand and they’re not left on the edge of uncertainty,” Mr Thompson said.
Minewatch spokeswoman Wendy Bowman said water in Bowmans and Glennies creeks should be protected from mining impacts and thus the situation warranted proper assessment.
A native title claimant on Ashton’s Camberwell site, Scott Franks, said the Plains Clan of the Wonnarua People had mounted strong opposition against the south east open-cut expansion plan on the grounds it would destroy significant cultural sites.
An Ashton media release, quoting Mr Barton, said company managers had begun the difficult task of telling workers that 18 open-cut jobs were redundant as there was no work for them because the north east open-cut stopped full-scale operations last year.
“We’ve kept these people engaged on limited productive work since December 2010 in the hope that the company’s long-standing application for the south east open-cut would soon be approved,” Mr Barton said.
“Despite repeated assurances from senior officers of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure that approval or referral to the Planning Assessment Commission was imminent, neither has occurred.”
Without certainty for the future, the company regrets it is planning the retrenchment of the remaining 90 employees in the open-cut in the next six weeks.
The company’s south east open-cut application was lodged with the government in March 2009, an environmental assessment was exhibited for public comment eight months later and then company officials responded to raised issues.
“Over the past 18 months the company has responded positively to all requests from the Department of Planning and Infrastructure to amend or modify the south east open-cut proposal,” Mr Barton said.
Mr Oshlack said it was wrong for anyone to imply that workers would be out of a job if Ashton’s south east open-cut application was not approved.
“They may not be working on that site, but there are plenty of mining jobs going and they could be working nearby tomorrow if they wanted,” Mr Oshlack said.
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