Redundancy talks start for 150 workers at New Acland mine

Redundancy talks have started at New Acland mine, with 150 workers set to be told by the end of the week that their jobs are gone.

BY the end of this week, 150 New Acland workers will have been told their jobs are wrapping up.

New Acland general manager Dave O’Dwyer said the company started having one-on-one conversations with its workforce yesterday.

“By the end of this week we would have conversations with 150 people and let them know that their jobs at New Acland mine will be finishing up,” he said.

REDUNDANCIES DUE TODAY AT QUEENSLAND MINE

Mr O’Dwyer said while a number of people had put in for voluntary redundancies, they made up a “small portion” of the 150.

New Acland general manager Dave O'Dwyer. Picture: Annette Dew

“We were very hopeful that we would get word from the Government in time to make sure this didn’t happen and we could continue forward with our full workforce, but unfortunately we didn’t see that leadership come from our government and now we’re going through these very difficult conversations,” he said.

Mr O’Dwyer said six weeks notice would be given to affected workers.

“The mood’s really tough, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

“We started (conversations) yesterday afternoon, today was the first of the crew conversations and they’ll happen through until Friday.

“Specialists, including counsellors have been onsite for the past 24 hours, supporting the entire workforce through this extremely difficult time.

“We will also be hosting a series of outplacement sessions for affected workers to help them rebuild.”

He said the Government still had the opportunity to “get some good news” out of the mine, and called on it to give New Hope the “nod” on its approvals.