The following is a series of letters sent to BHP, Chandler MacLeod, CFMEU and represetatives, Joel Fitzgibbon MP for Hunter, Federal CFMMEU and Recruit Holdings in relation to the abuse of casual black coal mine workers.
Jump to:
- Anthony Albanese
- BHP
- Chandler MacLeod
- CFMEU Hunter Valley
- Joel Fitzgibbon MP – Labor for Hunter
- CFMMEU
- Recruit Holdings
- Kevin Anderson MP – Minister for Better Regulation & Innovation
- Victor Dominello MP – Minister for Customer Service
- Christian Porter MP – Attorney General & Minister for Industrial Relations
Anthony Albanese
19 March 2020
The Hon Anthony Albanese MP
Leader of the Opposition
PO Box 5100
MARRICKVILLE NSW 2204
Dear Mr Albanese
May I say how pleased I was to see you standing side-by-side with a Queensland coal miner in Mackay recently to launch the CFMMEU’s report on the wage implications of casual mine work. It is good to see you supporting coal miners and the Australian coal industry.
For your information, there seems to have been a lot of banter and public political points scoring about the casual black coal mine workers, especially in the Hunter Valley. Yet the reality is that there are many abused and crippled workers who need our help. Today, I seek your support to put things right for these workers and union members.
In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at BHP’s Mt Arthur Mine on page 16 but conveniently omitted to mention that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District was a party to the agreement (and others), that led to the 40% underpayment, the loss of entitlements and the abuse of so many casual black coal mine workers.
In summary, I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. I am told that they underpaid the casual workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers compensation insurance systems. To everyday Australians including me, this is immoral.
CMG then under-reported the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save a few dollars on insurance premiums. Surely this is illegal, yet the CFMMEU did not take action.
I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down. They were happy to take their membership fees, but it was “a fee for no service”, which sounds similar to the banks.
This union also seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing with CMG to grant industrial peace and in agreeing that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District would not fight for these workers’ rights. It concerns me that the union did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when the union did so for others nearby.
I am informed that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District is directly or indirectly a part-owner of the insurer that rejected crippled workers’ claims for compensation leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.
Coal LSL, a government organisation which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better. They just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained Coal LSL ignored them. But now it turns out that after I questioned Coal LSL at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.
In using labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the significant loss of entitlements has seen the coal industry and BHP in particular join various national retailers and others accused of ripping-off workers with wage theft.
One of the crippled miners, Mr Simon Turner, repeatedly advised the miners’ federal member for the Hunter electorate, Mr Joel Fitzgibbon, yet sadly Mr Fitzgibbon failed to take action.
Further, I am advised that your party under Mr Shorten’s leadership took the policy of equal pay for equal work to the last federal election.
Mr Albanese, these matters require co-ordinated and integrated national responses, real action by the Australian Government and the States to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.
I invite you to become a part of the solution and contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual coal miners everywhere.
I would be happy to meet with you to brief you in relation to the serious immoralities and irregularities and the problems the Hunter Valley casual black coal miners and their families face in your home state.
I await your response in due course.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-A.Albanese-MP-1BHP
19 March 2020
Mr Ken MacKenzie
Chairman of the Board
BHP Group Limited
171 Collins Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Dear Mr MacKenzie
I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at your company’s Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales and seek your support to put things right.
As an experienced coal mine manager and executive, I support the business need for casual labour from time to time, yet what has been demonstrated at Mt Arthur Mine through an exploitative enterprise agreement, work practices, rostering and the long-term use of casual workers in ‘permanent’ roles, is clearly not appropriate.
BHP, as the owner of Mt Arthur Mine, has a responsibility to ensure that both BHP and its contractors comply with the laws of Australia. BHP also has a moral obligation as a ‘good corporate citizen’ to care for workers on their mine site. However, I understand that BHP and Chandler Macleod used ‘cracks’ in the Australian industrial relations system to exploit cheap labour for the mine instead of hiring and paying permanent employees in permanent jobs.
I am informed that BHP failed to verify proof of insurance from Chandler Macleod before permitting workers on site. Surely your managers must have known that workers could be harmed and therefore, in failing to verify proper workers compensation and accident pay cover your managers have put both the workers and BHP at risk.
It seems to me that BHP may have a culture that hides site incidents, the result being that at Mt Arthur Mine BHP management did not report serious accidents that left casual miners permanently crippled and unable to work. What is worse is that these workers were not provided with proper compensation because the relevant award did not recognise casual black coal miners. BHP knew it – yet did nothing to fix it (I refer you to Dept. of Industry Resources and Energy (NSW) (Ref.: Sass-2016/00571 – “I can confirm that Mt Arthur Coal did not report the incident to the Regulator pursuant to Clause 128 Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2014”).
Regardless of how BHP determined to use labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the significant loss of entitlements have seen the coal industry join various national retailers and others accused of ripping off workers with “wage theft”.
What would your shareholders think of the Big Australian?
Everyday Australians and your shareholders expect that you and the Board would not put the company, employees or shareholders at risk due to breaches of legal and moral standards. We would all expect that BHP would behave as a good corporate citizen, yet clearly here it has let so many workers and families down, and in turn, that potentially exposes shareholders to unnecessary risk.
I am advised that the kind of abuses at your Mt Arthur Mine may be occurring at Queensland mines, and I ask you to investigate and to put things right.
These are serious matters that require real action in the form of co-ordinated, national responses from the Australian Government, the States and business to rectify the serious issue of wage theft and employer non-compliance.
If business cannot fix this Parliament may need to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements. I request that you step forward and contribute to putting things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere.
If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist you.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
c.c. Mr Mike Henry – CEO
200319-K.MacKenzieChandler MacLeod
19 March 2020
Mr Peter Acheson
Chief Executive Officer
Chandler MacLeod Group
Level 5, 345 George Street
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Dear Mr Acheson
I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at BHP’s Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.
I was concerned to hear about Chandler MacLeod Group’s (CMG) part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and I seek your response and support to put things right.
I am informed that CMG, as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. Apparently, CMG underpaid the casual black coal miners 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. I and many everyday Australians think that this is immoral.
I am also told that CMG underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casual miners who were working at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money on insurance premiums.
I understand that CMG, as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed at Mt Arthur Mine and that CMG failed over a period of five years to pay these workers the entitlements due to black coal miners.
Further, I am informed that CMG entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that you had no casuals on site, when there were already casuals working for you on site at the mine.
Further, your company has allegedly submitted defective documentation to Coal LSL and CMG under-reported employee data for many years. Why? When I questioned Coal LSL in recent Senate Estimates hearings, they admitted they had found these ‘discrepancies’.
Regardless of how CMG and BHP determined to use labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the significant loss of entitlements has seen the coal industry join various national retailers and others accused of ripping-off workers with “wage theft”. Surely it is time for you and CMG to act with honour and to take action to pay these people their entitlements and to compensate many for their physical and emotional suffering and trauma.
It is time for CMG to prove itself to be a good corporate citizen and to put things right. I ask you and CMG to become a part of the solution. Australia is watching.
If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-P.Acheson-CEO-CMGCFMEU Hunter Valley
19 March 2020
Mr Tony Maher
General President
CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District
PO Box 364
CESSNOCK NSW 2325
Dear Mr Maher
I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.
I was concerned to hear about your Division’s part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and seek your response and support to put things right.
I am informed that Chandler Macleod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. I am told that they underpaid the workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems, which to everyday Australians is just plain immoral.
CMG both underpaid and then under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working in the pits were ‘administrative staff’, just to save money on insurance premiums. Additionally, it is disappointing that you did not act after casual miners raised this with your union.
I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District, as the representative of many of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down. You were happy to take their membership fees – “a fee for no service”, which sounds just like the banks.
In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16, but conveniently ignores that your Division of the union was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment and abuses of so many casual black coal mine workers.
Your division of the CFMMEU seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing, through its actions, with a letter from CMG that bought that company industrial peace. Specifically, the CFMMEU implicitly agreed that it would not dispute and therefore not stand up for workers’ rights.
It concerns me that the CFMMEU did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when it did for others nearby.
I understand that your union is a part-owner of the insurer that rejected these workers’ claims for compensation, leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.
In my opinion your division’s recent public statements on this atrocious behaviour shows apparent careless ignorance of the core issues or an attempt to divert people’s attention from your division’s many failures on the issue.
It is time for you and the CFMMEU to step forward and to declare why it did nothing to protect these casual black coal mine workers, many of whom were members of the union.
This will require you to tell the truth because the issue is about much more than casualization. It is about your Division knowingly condoning and supporting the exploitation of workers.
I request that you join with me to contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
c.c. Mr Grahame Kelly – General Secretary
200319-T.Maher-CFMEUHon. Joel Fitzgibbon – Labor MP for Hunter
19 March 2020
Mr Joel Fitzgibbon MP
Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Resources
Member for Hunter
PO Box 526
CESSNOCK NSW 2325
Dear Mr Fitzgibbon
There seems to have been a lot of banter and public political points scoring about the casual black coal mine workers in the Hunter Valley, but right now I seek your support to put things right.
Joel, I am informed that one of these crippled workers, Simon Turner, has repeatedly tried to contact you to set the record straight about the casual black coal miners who have been refused their fair entitlements. More recently, I read some of your comments including those in the Newcastle Herald on 17 March 2020 when you say you are for coal miners but your actions say otherwise – ignoring calls for help from injured CFMEU members.
From your public comments it seems that you have missed the point. This is a significant wage theft issue and is about much more than casualisation of the workforce. It is about the abuses that many casual black coal miners have endured in your electorate, and that have continued for at least five years despite being drawn to your attention.
Let’s consider the big picture. I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. I am told that they underpaid the casual workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers’ compensation insurance systems. To everyday Australians like me this is immoral.
CMG then under-reported the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save a few dollars on insurance premiums. Surely this is illegal, yet neither the CFMMEU nor you acted.
I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down. They were happy to take their membership fees, but it was “a fee for no service”, which sounds similar to the banks.
In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16 but conveniently omitted that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment, loss of entitlements and abuse of so many casual black coal mine workers.
The union also seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing with CMG to grant industrial peace and that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District would not protect these workers’ rights.
It concerns me that the union did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when the union did so for others nearby.
I am informed that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District is directly or indirectly a part-owner of the insurer that rejected these workers’ claims for compensation leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.
Coal LSL, a government organisation which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better. They accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained Coal LSL ignored them. But now it turns out that after I questioned them at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.
Joel, these matters require co-ordinated national responses, real action by the Australian Government and the States to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.
I invite you to become a part of the solution and contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual coal miners everywhere. The first step in developing a solution is to truthfully admit the problems listed above.
I would be happy to meet with you to brief you in relation to the real and serious immoralities and irregularities, and the problems the Hunter Valley casual black coal miners and their families face in your electorate.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-J.Fitzgibbon-MPCFMMEU
19 March 2020
Mr Michael O’Connor
National Secretary
Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union
Level 1, 165 Bouverie Street
CARLTON VIC 3053
Dear Mr O’Connor
I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.
I was concerned to hear about the role of your union’s NSW Mining Division in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and I seek your response and support to put things right.
I am informed that Chandler Macleod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. I am told that they underpaid the workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems, which to everyday Australians is just plain immoral.
CMG both underpaid and then under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working in the pits were ‘administrative staff’, in order to save money on insurance premiums. Additionally, it is disappointing that the NSW Mining Division did not act after casual miners raised this with your union.
I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District in the Hunter Valley, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers let these and other mine workers down. The Division was happy to take membership fees – “a fee for no service”, which sounds just like the banks.
In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16, but conveniently forgot that the CFMMEU was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment and abuses of so many casual black coal mine workers.
Your Division of the CFMMEU seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing, through its actions, with a letter from CMG that bought that company industrial peace. Specifically, the CFMMEU implicitly agreed that it would not dispute and therefore not stand up for workers’ rights.
It concerns me that the CFMMEU did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when they did for others nearby.
I understand that your union, or its mining division, is a part-owner of the insurer that rejected these workers’ claims for compensation leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.
Coal LSL, a government organisation which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better. They just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained, Coal LSL ignored them. But now, as it turns out, after I questioned Coal LSL at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.
Michael, these matters require co-ordinated national responses, real action from the Australian Government, the States and stakeholders like you, to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.
I request you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere.
If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-M.OConnor-CFMMEURecruit Holdings
19 March 2020
Mr Masumi Minegishi
President, CEO & Chairman of the Board
Recruit Holdings Co Ltd
8-4-17 Ginza, Chuo-ku
TOKYO JAPAN
Dear Mr Minegishi
As someone who has worked in an executive position within Australia’s coal export industry, my experience is that Japanese businesses and joint venture partners highly value behaving with integrity and honour.
I write today to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at BHP’s Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales, Australia.
I note that your company owns the Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG), which has been a significant contributor to the abuses that hardworking Australians have had to endure and, with respect, I am seeking your support to put things right.
I am informed that CMG as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to perform wage theft from casual black coal miners by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. This agreement allowed your company to underpay workers 40%, knowing these workers were slipping through the cracks in the Australian industrial relations and workers compensation insurance systems.
Further, I understand that CMG under-declared the number of employees they had on site and the types of work they did, declaring that the casual miners who were working at the coalface in coal production were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money on insurance premiums. I am sure that you understand that this may be both fraudulent and illegal.
I am also informed that CMG declared that they had no casuals when there were already casual miners working for the company on site at the mine. I know that CMG employs a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and therefore most likely management would have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.
Regardless of how CMG and BHP determined to use labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the workers’ significant loss of entitlements has seen the coal industry join various national retailers and others accused of ripping off workers with “wage theft”.
In doing so, there is a risk that not only will CMG be liable for repayment of these workers’ entitlements, they may have put at risk their AUD $300 million worth of Australian Government labour hire business, if the Mt Arthur breaches are proven to demonstrate that they are not fit to have government work.
I understand that CMG is ‘waiting’ to see what happens. In my view, it is time for action.
It is time for Recruit Holdings and for CMG to prove themselves to be honourable and good corporate citizens and to put things right.
If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-M.Minegishi-RHCHon. Victor Dominello MP – NSW Minister for Customer Service
19 March 2020
The Hon Victor Dominello MP
Minister for Customer Service
GPO Box 5341
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Dear Mr Dominello
I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers in the NSW Hunter Valley coalfields.
I was concerned to hear about SIRA and iCare’s part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and seek your support to put things right.
For your information, I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG) as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to rip-off casual workers. They negotiated a ‘sham’ agreement to underpay workers 40%, knowing these workers were slipping through the cracks in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. They, like others, underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface in coal production were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money reducing insurance and workers compensation premiums. Surely this is illegal?
It is understood that CMG as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed to work in the Mt Arthur Mine and over a period of five years they failed to pay them or credit them with the entitlements due to black coal miners.
I am also informed that CMG entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that they had no casuals, when there were already casuals working for them on site at the mine. CMG, like many such companies, employed a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and would have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.
Coal LSL, a government organisation and one which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better. It has been revealed in Senate Estimates hearings that they just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained, Coal LSL ignored them. But now, as it turns out, after I questioned them at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.
As you are one of the NSW Ministers responsible I draw to your attention my concerns that the NSW based workers compensation and insurance agencies like iCare, SIRA and Coal Mines Insurance do not care and have ignored legitimate claims from these black coal mine workers. Due to ‘cracks’ in the system, these workers have been denied the rights owed to them. I would be happy to refer the individual cases to the appropriate authorities for review.
I ask that you ensure that these abused coal workers get their due entitlements from the correct scheme for black coal miners.
These matters require co-ordinated responses, real action by the NSW and Australian Governments to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour hire arrangements. I request that you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners in the Hunter Valley.
If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-V.Dominello-MPHon. Kevin Anderson MP – NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation
19 March 2020
The Hon Kevin Anderson MP
Minister for Better Regulation & Innovation
GPO Box 5341
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Dear Mr Anderson
I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers in the NSW Hunter Valley coalfields.
I was concerned to hear about SIRA and iCare’s part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and seek your support to put things right.
For your information, I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG) as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to rip-off casual workers. They negotiated a ‘sham’ agreement to underpay workers 40%, knowing these workers were slipping through the cracks in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. They, like others, underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface in coal production were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money reducing insurance and workers compensation premiums. Surely this is illegal?
It is understood that CMG as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed to work in the Mt Arthur Mine and over a period of five years they failed to pay them or credit them with the entitlements due to black coal miners.
I am also informed that CMG entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that they had no casuals, when there were already casuals working for them on site at the mine. CMG, like many such companies, employed a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and would have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.
Coal LSL, a government organisation and one which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better. It has been revealed in Senate Estimates hearings that they just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained, Coal LSL ignored them. But now, as it turns out, after I questioned them at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.
As you are one of the NSW Ministers responsible I draw to your attention my concerns that the NSW based workers compensation and insurance agencies like iCare, SIRA and Coal Mines Insurance do not care and have ignored legitimate claims from these black coal mine workers. Due to ‘cracks’ in the system, these workers have been denied the rights owed to them. I would be happy to refer the individual cases to the appropriate authorities for review.
I ask that you ensure that these abused coal workers get their due entitlements from the correct scheme for black coal miners.
These matters require co-ordinated responses, real action by the NSW and Australian Governments to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour hire arrangements. I request that you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners in the Hunter Valley.
If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-K.Anderson-MPHon. Christian Porter MP – Attorney General and Minister for Industrial Relations
19 March 2020
The Hon Christian Porter MP
Attorney General & Minister for Industrial Relations
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Australian Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Mr Porter
I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.
I am confident you will agree that BHP as the mine owner has a responsibility to ensure that BHP and its contractors comply with the laws of Australia, and BHP has a moral obligation as a ‘good corporate citizen’ to care for workers on their mine site. BHP used Australia’s ‘broken’ IR system and engaged with a labour-hire company to buy cheap labour for the mine, instead of hiring and paying permanent and part-time employees in permanent secure jobs.
To my knowledge BHP did not verify proof of insurance from Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG) to permit them on site, yet they did so knowing workers could be harmed and had no proper workers’ compensation cover.
It seems that BHP has a culture that hides site incidents and that they did not report accidents that left casual miners permanently crippled and unable to work without proper compensation, because the rules did not recognise casual black coal miners. BHP knew it yet did nothing to fix it. (proof – Dept. of Industry Resources and Energy (NSW) (Ref.: Sass-2016/00571) “I can confirm that Mt Arthur Coal did not report the incident to the Regulator pursuant to Clause 128 Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2014”).
I am also led to believe that CMG as the labour-hire employer may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement to underpay the workers 40%. They knew these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. They, like others, underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working in production at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’, in order to save money.
I understand that CMG, as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed in the Mt Arthur Mine and failed to pay them for a period of over five years the relevant entitlements due to black coal miners.
I am also informed that CMG may have entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that they had no casuals, when there were already casuals working for them on site at the mine. CMG, like many such companies, employed a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and would most likely have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.
For your information, CMG has approximately $300 million worth of Australian Government business, most likely paying people less than the public servants they work beside and the government has yet to review this contractor for wage theft or potential breaches of employment standards for casual workers.
The CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District in the Hunter Valley, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down. The CFMEU needs to step forward and declare why it did nothing to protect these casual black coal mine workers, many of whom were members of the union. The union was happy to take the miners’ membership fees “for no service”, just like the banks.
The CFMMEU did a ‘deal with the devil’ when they agreed with a letter from CMG that bought industrial peace. Following receipt of the CMG letter the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District did not support these workers’ rights.
The CFMMEU are also part-owner of the insurer that chose to let these workers down, by rejecting their claims for compensation and leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.
Attorney General, as the minister responsible for our industrial and employment laws and regulations, I draw to your attention that the Liberal National Government and the Australian Labor Party are both to blame for putting in place an industrial relations system that let this happen. They implemented a slow and sometimes expensive review system that causes hardworking Australians to go for years without justice. There should be a better and quicker way.
In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16, but conveniently omitted that the CFMMEU was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment and abuses of so many casual black coal mine workers. An agreement that was all too quickly rubberstamped by the Fair Work Commission.
The Fair Work Commission is not without blame. The organisation we are supposed to trust to protect our employment standards left a gaping hole in employee entitlements and insurances when they rubberstamped the CMG enterprise agreement, along with so many other similarly defective agreements. This disregard for the outcomes of their decisions has left so many broken and injured people without their lawful entitlements.
Further, the Fair Work Ombudsman simply rubbed salt into the wounds of these broken workers when they said there is no such thing as a casual black coal miner and told any who asked for help to ‘go see a lawyer’. This is not the Australian way.
Coal LSL, a government organisation ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better. They accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them and when employees complained, Coal LSL demonstrated their lack of governance and ignored them. But now, as it turns out, after I questioned Coal LSL at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.
Some abused employees are also concerned that these rogue labour-hire companies may ‘phoenix’ themselves rather than paying what they owe, leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill. I trust that you will do all in your power to prevent this.
Attorney-General, these matters require co-ordinated national responses, real action by the Australian Government and by the States to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.
I request that you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere and enable a system to get them their due entitlements as black coal mine workers.
If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist you.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm Roberts
Senator for Queensland
200319-C.Porter-Attorney-General
