Workers Rally at Metropolitan Mine During Third Week of Lockout

More than 100 workers have rallied outside an underground New South Wales coal mine as a lockout by owner Peabody enters its third week. About 160 permanent employees have been locked out without pay from the Metropolitan Mine in Helensburgh since June 18, following protected industrial action over wage negotiations.

The Mining and Energy Union (MEU) and Peabody are at loggerheads over enterprise agreement (EA) bargaining and met with the Fair Work Commissioner on Tuesday. The industrial action in June included work bans on training and wide-load removals as well as shift stoppages, and saw the US-owned mining company respond with its own protected action — a lockout. The mine is continuing operations with non-union workers and contractors.

John and Blake are a father and son working at the mine: John a miner of 30 years, and Blake joining the mine four years ago. Blake said the lockout had placed his family under financial strain. Another long-time miner, Phillip James Jordan, said workers deserved a better deal than their current EA.

The lockout is due to end on Wednesday evening, but has previously been extended. It was lifted briefly on July 3 but reinstated less than 24 hours later, after the union took a seven-hour shift stoppage and recommenced work bans on training and wide-load removals.

Peabody's vice-president of underground operations, Mike Carter, has staunchly defended the company's use of the lockout. The MEU and Peabody met with the Fair Work Commissioner on Tuesday for a conciliation meeting to try to resolve the dispute. The union said it would lodge a claim for a 15 per cent wage increase over three years, a one-off market rate increase of $1.50 per hour, plus a $4 increase to crib payments, as well as a job security clause.

The MEU is calling for the use of lockouts to be banned. The ongoing dispute comes at a time of instability for the region's mining operations, with just three of four mines in the region operational.