Joel Fitzgibbon: overhaul of mine labour hire needed after blast

Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon is appealing for a bipartisan overhaul of mining employment, to encourage more permanent workers and fewer labour hire contractors.

Labor’s resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon. Picture: AAP

Labor resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon has called for a bipartisan overhaul of mining employment to ensure there are more permanent workers and fewer labour-hire contractors, in the wake of the Grosvenor mine explosion.

A board of inquiry is investigating the May 6 methane explosion at Anglo American’s Grosvenor underground coalmine, which nearly killed five labour-hire coalminers. The majority of underground miners at the central Queensland mine are contractors employed by labour-hire companies, with just executives and senior staff employed by Anglo.

The board of inquiry has flagged making recommendations about “any particular employment arrangements which may be better apt to ensure acceptable risk levels to workers”.

It is not only Anglo American, but many mining companies across Queensland that rely on contractor labour rather than permanent employees, due to the variable demand in the sector.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who represents the coalmining electorate of Hunter in NSW, said he backed mining union the CFMEU’s concerns that contractors were less likely to speak up about safety issues.

“I believe it can pose a safety risk,” he said. “I’m most comfortable when employees of mines are under enterprise bargaining agreements entered into by the CFMEU, and all the safety which is associated with that … they’re using their collective weight to ensure miners go home safely at the end of their shift. That collective weight doesn’t exist with labour-hire companies.”

Mr Fitzgibbon appealed for a bipartisan approach.

Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt declined to comment.

Former resources minister and Queensland National Senator Matt Canavan said the issue of mining employment should be dealt with separately to safety, which was the “showstopper” and the priority.

“I would much prefer to see permanent jobs as much as possible but we should deal with the safety issues on their own merits,” Senator Canavan said.

CFMEU president Steve Smyth said the reliance on temporary workers allowed a culture of “intimidation and non-reporting” to develop.

“Labour hire and contractors are paid by the hour with no job security, there’s a problem of non-reporting of safety concerns,” Mr Smyth said.

But an Anglo American spokeswoman said the company communicated regularly with its workforce and the Grosvenor mine introduced a behavioural safety program 18 months ago to encourage workers to speak up.

“We have multiple channels available for our workforce members to raise concerns, including a confidential, anonymous reporting service that is managed by a third party,” she said.