Mineworkers have made the first use of Labor’s “same job same pay” laws in a bid to rectify claimed pay gaps of up to $20,000 a year for labour hire workers at a Queensland coal mine.

The Mining and Energy Union applied for Fair Work Commission orders on Wednesday to require Workpac’s 330 labour hire workers at Batchfire’s Callide mine at Biloela in central Queensland be paid the same as the direct workforce.