Workers left their posts before shifts were due to end in hopes of better remuneration.
Employees recently stopped work early and asked for a wage increase at South 32’s Appin Coal Mine, about 36km northwest of Wollongong.
The Mining and Energy Union (MEU) claims the industrial action, between 10pm on 24 August 2022 and 31 August 2022, is protected under the Fair Work Act.
Organisers hope management will feel motivated to improve existing enterprise agreements after five- or six-hour stoppages occur across all shifts at the operation and Coal Preparation Plant (CPP).
“Coal miners at Appin and across the industry have worked through many years of downturn, and pressure on the coal companies, accepting wage freezes – and minimal advancement on pay and conditions,” MEU south western district vice president Bob Timbs said in a public statement.
“Now that coal prices and profits are booming and inflation is rising workers are seeking to have these changed circumstances reflected in their new enterprise agreement.”
The Appin Colliery and West Cliff CPP enterprise agreement covers nearly 500 production and engineering workers.
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