BHP‘s Saraji coal mine braces for industrial action in union dispute over EA

Tensions are rising at a BHP’s Bowen Basin coal mine as union workers begin industrial action.

Photo Lee Constable / Daily Mercury

Union workers will launch industrial action at BHP’s Saraji coal mine this week as the Mining and Energy Union tussles with the mining giant over enterprise agreement negotiations.

Some workers with Operation Services, an internal BHP mining services provider, will pursue work stoppages from Thursday, with a threat to widen the action to the Peak Downs, Goonyella Riverside, Blackwater, Caval Ridge and Daunia mines.

The action also includes bans on hot-seating during shift changeovers and bans on driving company-run buses within the pit.

Mining and Energy Union Queensland vice president Mitch Hughes said the campaign was designed to disrupt and slow production in response to the “substandard” agreement BHP offered production workers in March.

“They (OS workers) have again sent a strong message to BHP that they are not satisfied with the agreement on offer,” he said.

“BHP claims that OS workers are part of the family, but (the company) treats them like second class citizens on the mine site.

“It’s great to see OS workers standing up for what they deserve, which is a comprehensive Enterprise Agreement that reflects industry standards across the Queensland coalfields, including on BHP’s own operations.”

Union workers will launch industrial action at BHP’s Saraji coal mine.

A BHP spokesman said the company’s OS maintenance and production employees “strongly supported” the agreements put to them.

“Nearly two thirds of maintenance employees voted up the offer and we hope to be able to implement their new conditions and $5000 bonus payment as soon as possible,” he said.

“Just shy of a majority of our Operations Services production employees voted in favour of the proposed national agreement and we continue to engage closely with them.”

The MEU has stated the agreement for production workers did not include set pay rates or guaranteed pay rises.

The maintenance agreement covers 1427 workers across WA, South Australia and Queensland.

The company lodged the agreement for approval with the Fair Work Commission on March 31 and the MEU moved to block it on April 4.

If approval comes through, the $5000 sign-on bonus will deliver $7.1m in total to workers.

It is unclear how many workers will pursue action, though it is understood about 15 per cent of BHP’s OS production workforce in Queensland voted in favour of the campaign.

This week’s action follows the MEU ramping up its Same Job Same Pay fight to squash significant pay differences between permanent and contractor coal miners.

It also follows a November 2022 campaign from some direct-hire employees, who voted to stop working overtime and step-up duties over an EA dispute.