Peabody has notified employees at its Wambo coal handling and preparation plant, near Warkworth in the Hunter Valley, of a 14-day lockout after pay negotiations with the Mining and Energy Union broke down.
The move follows the 17th bargaining meeting between the company and the union, held yesterday, with Peabody saying there has been no material movement in the union’s position on remuneration despite concessions and multiple offers.
A Peabody spokesperson said the union had attempted to portray its latest remuneration claim as a reduction, when in reality it would push annual earnings for Wambo CHPP employees closer to a quarter of a million dollars in the final year of the agreement. The company said the union was seeking a total remuneration increase of 17 percent over the life of the four-year deal, with employees on rotating day and night rosters to be paid up to 234,000 dollars annually by the end of the agreement.
Peabody said its own offer remained on the table, and would result in employees on the same roster earning more than 219,400 dollars a year in the final year of the agreement, inclusive of 12 percent superannuation and an average production bonus of 97 percent paid over the previous three years.
But, the Mining annd Energy Union says that the figures being inclusive of super annd bonuses equates to a rise less than inflation.
Despite the industrial action, Peabody said the Wambo CHPP continued to meet its contractual requirements, and the company remained committed to reaching an agreement it said would support employees while providing certainty for the operation’s future.
“The decision to implement a 14-day lockout was difficult. Our preference has always been to reach an agreement through direct engagement rather than ongoing industrial action,” a Peabody spokesperson said.
