November 20, 2008

New Zealand coal miners call for overtime ban after pay talks fail

New Zealand Press Association reported that more than 800 coalminers have called for a nationwide overtime ban and a series of spontaneous rolling stoppages aimed at disrupting production at 11 mines covered by the agreement after multi employer collective agreement talks broke down. The strike action has started with west coast miners for several hours walking off the job at Solid Energy's Spring Creek, Terrace and Stockton mines. Waikato miners refused to work their shifts at the East Mine in Huntly.

Mr Ged O'Connell acting national secretary of Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union said that the MECA covered Solid Energy and about 8 of its contractors.

Mr O'Connell said that the union had been trying to negotiate a deal for the past two months, and miners were willing to fight for their fair share. He said “There was some variability in the figure because parity was being sought between regions. Solid Energy had responded with an offer around 4%. The talks had been difficult, as the company's board appeared to come to the table with a pre-set remuneration policy. The difficulties had been compounded by Solid Energy's refusal to negotiate alongside the contractors, so the union had to meet them separately.”

He added that "It's been a very frustrating process. We don't believe that Solid Energy has behaved in good faith. These guys do hard and dirty work every day in an industry that's making very healthy profits. All they want is a pay rise that reflects this, but the companies are refusing to budge."

The union is seeking a pay rise of between 5% and 5.5%. The union viewed this as an attempt to thwart the MECA.