Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) held a rally on Tuesday at the Singleton Showground, where Northern District president, Peter Jordan told the members he was adamant the union will not cave into Glencore’s bullying tactics against it workers.

He was vocal in his criticism of the company not only in the Hunter but also at it’s Queensland mines, in particular Oaky North. He said nothing had been resolved between our members and Glencore in regards to new Enterprise Agreements (EAs).

The EAs at the sites have expired, some a numbers of years ago, and negotiations to date have not proved successful. “We have been unable to negotiate a formal agreement with the company on the issues of redundancy pay, use of contractors and security of employment,” he said.

The meeting of 1300 members unanimously passed the following resolution:

Commenting on the recent announcement by Glencore that it had signed an agreement with the new owners of Hunter Valley Operations (HVO), Yancoal Australia, to form a joint venture and for Glencore to manage the mine, Mr Jordan said the union and its members at HVO were very worried about the prospect of Glencore running HVO.

“Like their other sites, the HVO Enterprise Agreement is expired so we expect to see the same difficulties we are currently having to occur at this mine in the future,” he said.

“We believe the deal with Yancoal will result in job losses at HVO. And, don’t be surprised if, in the future, they do another deal with Yancoal to manage Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW).

“I reckon once the HVO deal is bedded down, Glencore will start work on a deal to manage/operate MTW. The question then arises, how big will Glencore be in the valley and where is the competition?”

In response to the strike, Glencore issued a statement saying, “We believe that the CFMEU is pushing a political campaign at the expense of the legitimate interests of our employees (its members).”

“Despite us engaging in good faith bargaining for some time, the CFMEU continues to misinform the public and its members in the mistaken belief that conflict is a way to create and enrich employment.  

“The Enterprise Agreements we are negotiating at a number of our Hunter Valley coal operations retain workers’ rights to representation and remuneration well above the Australian average wage. It should also be remembered that from 2011 to 2016 there was a continuous reduction in the global coal price but during this time Glencore never pursued a reduction in wages for our employees.  

“None of our proposed EAs includes anything not already accepted in Agreements at other coal operations in Australia. The union has been rallying support by telling its members to take industrial action on the basis it wants to limit the percentage of contractors Glencore should be allowed to employ at our operations. 

“By law, this is not a permitted matter for EA negotiations.  The union has acknowledged this and withdrawn it as an issue for negotiation.  Given it had become the primary focus of the union campaign, there should be no reason for industrial action to continue.  

“Glencore wants modern, flexible and streamlined EAs that reflect the realities of today’s work environment.  Agreements that focus on unrestricted use of every employee’s experience, skills and capabilities.  Agreements that develop our people and position our business in a competitive world market.  

“We want a work environment where our management and employees have an open, constructive and collaborative relationship within a safe and efficient workplace where management allocates labour as required. We continue to engage site by site in good faith bargaining on these issues.  

“Glencore’s track record when it comes to creating jobs and opportunities is unmatched in the Australian coal industry over the last decade.  In this time, our business built the coal mines at Blakefield, Ulan West, Mangoola and Ravensworth North, providing thousands of jobs in direct employment and indirectly supporting many thousands more.  

“We will continue to run our operations at in a safe manner during this industrial action.”