‘JETSTAR’ MODEL LANDS AT BHP MINES

June 2019‘JETSTAR’ MODELLANDS AT BHP MINES

‘JETSTAR’ MODEL LANDS AT PEAKDOWNS AND SARAJIuse of a non-local workforce. OS workers are paid morethan 40,000 a year less than those on the Mt Arthur siteagreement.“This is one of the most divisive issues I’ve ever faced in theworkplace,” said Northern District Vice President Jeff Drayton.“THESE WORKERS ARE BEING TAKEN FOR A RIDE.CANDIDATES ARE TOLD THEY ARE GOING TO WORK ATMT ARTHUR FOR BHP AND THEY ARE EXCITED ABOUTTHAT. IT’S ONLY WELL THROUGH THE PROCESS THEYARE TOLD IT’S FOR OPERATIONS SERVICES.“It’s no surprise they are struggling to keep people in thesejobs, they are experiencing a lot of turnover and the 48 roleshas shrunk to about 30.”PEAK DOWNS AND SARAJI COAL MINES ARE THELATEST TARGET FOR BHP’S NEW CUT-PRICE WORKFORCEEMPLOYED BY ITS IN-HOUSE LABOUR HIRE COMPANY,OPERATIONS SERVICES.BHP announced the new subsidiary last December. TheCFMEU subsequently became aware of two proposedenterprise agreements lodged with the Fair Work Commissioninvolving 1 shelf companies fully owned by BHP.Workers at Peak Downs have been told that in September,230 roles will be filled by Operations Services workers toreplace jobs filled by contractor HSE Mining.The ‘Operations Services Production Agreement 2018’ wasvoted on by 50 employees with 37 in favour. The ‘OperationsServices Maintenance Agreement 2018’ was voted on by 16employees, with 9 in favour. These agreements designedto cover thousands of workers were voted on by a very few,mostly like in the WA iron ore industry.At Saraji, 130 Operations Services roles will begin next month,replacing services currently supplied by contractors UGL inthe washplant and Downer in vehicle maintenance.The introduction of OS at these sites is a blow to thehundreds of employees of contracting firms who will losetheir jobs, said Queensland District President Stephen Smyth.Both agreements have a national scope and allow for workersto be transferred to any of the company’s operations at anylocation at any time, including coal and metalliferous mines,allowing the company to avoid paying redundancies whenstaffing needs change.“DOWNER WAS RECENTLY TOLD THEY HAD A TWOYEAR EXTENSION ON THEIR CONTRACT AT SARAJI,MEANING WORKERS HAVE MADE COMMITMENTSBASED ON ON-GOING WORK. NOW, THEY WILL LOSETHEIR JOBS. THEY CAN APPLY FOR JOBS WITHOPERATIONS SERVICES, BUT THE PAY IS LOWER THANTHEY ARE CURRENTLY RECEIVING UNDER DOWNER’SUNION-NEGOTIATED EBA. IT’S A DISGRACE.Pay rates are 30,000 to 50,000 a year lower than siteagreements negotiated by the CFMEU and there are no wagerises under the terms of the two four-year agreements.The Union is challenging the validity of both agreements inthe Fair Work Commission, with hearings scheduled laterthis month. Operations Services workers are currently beingemployed on common law contracts.General President Tony Maher said the Union would useall possible avenues fight the ‘Jetstar’ model that seescoalminers working side by side for vastly different rates ofpay and conditions.“If BHP is genuine about bringing work in-house, they shouldoffer jobs to existing labour hire workers and contractorsunder existing site agreements.”Operations Services workers have already been deployed atCaval Ridge and Daunia in Queensland and Mt Arthur in NSW,causing division among the workforce.“It’s unacceptable that BHP is replacing a dodgy casuallabour hire model with a cut-price Jetstar model. It’s justanother way of siphoning money out of workers’ pay packetsback into company profits. All workers doing the same workin a coal mine should be getting the same pay and conditionsand we encourage all workers to join the Union and supportthis fight.”At Mt Arthur, where BHP has employed no-one under the siteagreement for about six years, a team of 48 OS employeeshas started work. They are on a 7 on 7 off roster and requiredto stay at a local motel in Muswellbrook during their shift.The shift pattern is at s – butmost of it is metallurgical or coking coal for steelmaking.It is the world’s largest supplier of coking coal ininternational markets.While coking coal is an essential component in the makingof iron and steel, and cannot be replaced for decades tocome, thermal coal is mainly used for power generationand is facing price competition from renewables, and publicpressures over carbon emissions causing global warming.In a presentation to investors on 22 May, BHP said:“ENERGY COAL ASSETS ARE CHALLENGED”, THAT THECOMPANY HAS “NO APPETITE FOR GROWTH IN ENERGYCOAL REGARDLESS OF ASSET ATTRACTIVENESS” ANDTHAT ENERGY COAL GLOBALLY WOULD BE PHASED OUT“POTENTIALLY SOONER THAN EXPECTED”.BHP was also at pains to point out that thermal coal was just3% of its assets, unlike the broader coal business which isone of the major pillars of the company.On the other hand, the company is making loads of moneyout of its A 2.5 billion of thermal coal assets. In its half yearreport to December 2018 the company reported over A 600m(A 1.2 billion on an annualised basis) in cash flow afterdeducting operating costs. The cash margin ranges from30 cents to 50 cents in the dollar. These are very profitableassets. The company is not offloading these assets while theyare so profitable.Cerrejon projectBHP owns two major thermal coal mines – all of the MountArthur Coal mine in the Hunter Valley, producing around 20million tonnes per year – and one third of the Cerrejon projectin Colombia that produces 30 million tonnes per year. Theseare large coal mines in world rankings.7

FROM THE PRESIDENTTony Maher“WE ARE AS FOCUSED AS EVER ONFIGHTING FOR OUR MEMBERS’ JOBSAND RIGHTS.”Tony MaherOUR UNION CAMPAIGNED FOR A CHANGE OFGOVERNMENT BECAUSE WE ARE ALARMED AT THESPREAD OF CASUAL LABOUR HIRE THROUGH OURINDUSTRIES, A RORT DRIVEN BY EMPLOYERS TO DRIVEDOWN WAGES AND CONDITIONS. FEDERAL LABORHAD COMMITMENTS TO END CASUALISATION OFPERMANENT JOBS AND TO ENSURE ‘SAME JOB SAMEPAY’ FOR LABOUR HIRE WORKERS. WE WILL KEEPFIGHTING THE CASUAL LABOUR HIRE RORT,BUT THERE’S NO QUESTION IT WILL BE A MOREDIFFICULT BATTLE.ADANI JOBS MUST BE PERMANENT,LOCAL AND WELL-PAIDThere’s no question that coal was at the centre of May’sfederal election. Green activists and the ‘stop Adani’campaign made sure of that, with their convoy intoQueensland backfiring when it turned out that people in coalregions support our second largest export industry and thejobs it provides.One of the outcomes of the focus on coal during the federalelection is that the Queensland Government announcedtight deadlines for approving outstanding approvals forAdani’s Carmichael project in the Galilee Basin, with thefinal approval before construction can commence to beannounced this week.If its groundwater management plan is approved,construction may proceed within weeks – but it’s just as likelythere will be further delays due to legal challenges or otherhold-ups. Adani still has to navigate building a rail line andnegotiating a royalties agreement.However, we understand there was real concern in coalcommunities about Labor’s energy policy and a perceivedlack of support for the coal industry that hurt Labor’s vote incoal regions.Adani has become a symbol of the coal industry’s futuredue to aggressive campaigning for and against it. Ourunion supports coal developments that can meet requiredapprovals and industry standards, Adani included. But a 10million tonne per annum coal mine will not change the faceof Australia’s coal industry. If it doesn’t go ahead, that volumeof coal will be produced elsewhere to meet market demand,along with the 800-1500 on-going jobs it anticipates creating.Labor’s new resources spokesman, Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbonhas conceded that Labor didn’t spend enough time talking upthe value of mining. Even though it has always been Labor’spolicy to support the export coal industry and for coal powerto be a significant part of Australia’s domestic energy mix,they were reluctant to talk about it. Joel’s appointment is agood outcome and he will be a great advocate for the industryand for the workers and communities who rely on it.During the election campaign, the Queensland Governmentannounced its approval of the 15 million tonne Olive Downscoal mine with 1000 on-going jobs and fast-tracking of the 8million tonne Winchester South coal mine with 450 on-goingjobs, to little fanfare.Meanwhile, we will be making sure that all MPs who wontheir seats on a platform of supporting coal are held toaccount for supporting coal workers, not just companyprofits. Coal mining should be a source of good, local wellpaid jobs, but as we all know, the bosses are always lookingfor ways around it. We are as focused as ever on fighting forour members’ jobs and rights.Our focus now is on making sure that any jobs the Carmichaelproject does create are local, permanent and well-paid andwe have sought assurances from CEO Lucas Dow. If half thejobs are casual labour hire with no holidays, no job securityand 30% less pay it will be a slap in the face for locals whohave supported the project in good faith.Authorised by T.Maher, CFMEU Mining & Energy, 215 Clarence St Sydney 2000TONY MAHER,General PresidentSubscribe: commoncause.cfmeu.org.auContact: commoncause@cfmeu.com.au8

‘JETSTAR’ MODEL LANDS AT PEAK DOWNS AND SARAJI use of a non-local workforce. OS workers are paid more than 40,000 a year less than those on the Mt Arthur site agreement. “This is one of the most divisive issues I’ve ever faced in the workplace,” said Northern District Vice Presi