MORE than 200 mineworkers at the Rix's Creek open-cut mine near Singleton are poised to strike for 24 hours on Sunday night after a ballot to take protected industrial action was lodged with the Fair Work Commission.
The 24-hour strike is one of six forms of industrial action endorsed in the ballot, with the CFMEU mining and energy division bargaining with management for a new enterprise agreement.
"Negotiations aren't progressing as well as we'd like," CFMEU district president Peter Jordan said yesterday.
"We are planning a 24-hour stoppage starting Sunday night with a full report back at a mass meeting in Singleton on Monday."
Although the CFMEU declined to comment on details of the dispute, mine sources say there is discontent that the mine's owner - the privately-run Bloomfield Group - has had months of access to the JobKeeper subsidy, which began when coal prices were at rock bottom last year at the height of COVID-19 economic impact.
The federal government said companies had to show their revenues had fallen by at least 30 per cent to be eligible.
In late July, Bloomfield told its workers at Rix's Creek and the Bloomfield open-cut near Maitland that premium Newcastle thermal coal was fetching $US52.48 a tonne, high-ash coal was bringing $US38.75 and hard coking coal was bringing $US108 a tonne.
Last week's bulletin to the workforce had the same three categories at $US90.46 (up 72 per cent), $US54.40 (up 40 per cent) and $US161.50 (up 49 per cent).
The Australian dollar exchange rate has risen from 70 cents in July to 76 cents or more at the moment, which reduces the returns on coal sold in $US, but the stronger $A also reduces the cost of import purchases priced in US currency, such as a fleet of trucks that Bloomfield has acknowledged it is considering for Rix's Creek.
A Bloomfield spokesperson said no decision had been made on "any new haul truck purchases".
"Mining is a capital intensive industry that requires the refreshment of fleet to sustain the operation and the jobs that it provides," the spokesperson said.
"The lead time on new equipment is generally more than 12 months."
He said Bloomfield's business "was impacted by COVID-19 and some of the group companies have accessed the JobKeeper subsidy for the periods in which they were or are eligible".
"Rix's Creek mine continues to meet the eligibility criteria for JobKeeper support," the spokesperson said.
In a post-vote message to the workforce, the company said it had hoped to have "meaningful discussions" on the points of disagreement at an enterprise bargaining meeting on Monday, which is also the day of the strike.
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