Hundreds of labour hire workers at Batchfire’s Callide mine at Biloela in Central Queensland are in line for a pay rise after the Fair Work Commission made the historic decision to issue the first order under new Same Job Same Pay laws. 

Workpac production operator and MEU member Josh Stevens is one of hundreds of workers in line for a pay rise in November after being labour hire at Callide mine for six years. 

Josh told the MEU that this decision will strongly impact his family, especially for his daughter who is just a few months old, saying that the expected pay rise would go towards essentials like housing, groceries, bills, nappies and baby clothes.

Nearly 350 other labour hire workers like Josh employed by Workpac will also have their pay lifted to match rates under the Batchfire Enterprise Agreement covering permanent employees.

As part of the order, the Fair Work Commission determined that it would make a ‘regulated labour hire arrangement’ covering Batchfire Callide (the mine operator) and Workpac (the labour hire provider) and set a ‘protected rate of pay’ in line with the Batchfire Enterprise Agreement.

In general, Workpac employees received about $10,000 to $20,000 less than Batchfire employees a year and the order would close the pay gap.

Significantly, the Fair Work Commission has determined that labour hire workers are performing the same work as direct employees by issuing an order to stop labour hire workers being paid less.

We said that our Union would be watching the first applications under these new laws closely. We are incredibly proud that our first application has resulted in a Same Job Same Pay order in recognition of the widespread use of labour hire across the coal industry in Queensland and nationally. We will build on this momentum by continuing to file a steady stream of applications to the Fair Work Commission and return fairness to our industry.

The handing down of the order at Callide mine came a few weeks after the MEU filed more Same Job Same Pay applications, including for three of BHP’s Queensland coal mines.

Ten applications were made covering approximately 1700 labour hire workers at Saraji, Peak Downs and Goonyella Riverside, for workers employed by Chandler Macleod, Workpac and BHP’s in-house provider Operations Services.

The orders would lift the pay of the affected labour hire workers by at least $10,000 and up to $40,000 a year depending on skills and rosters. Each application compares labour hire rates to the BMA Enterprise Agreement 2022 to set protected rates of pay for labour hire workers who perform work covered by the Agreement.

BHP, as the biggest player in Australia’s coal industry and a pioneer of the labour hire rort, has vowed to fight the applications in the Fair Work Commission and have hired the employer-friendly barrister Richard Dalton fresh off his unsuccessful defence of Qantas’ illegal outsourcing of ground handlers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company has flagged its intention to argue that Operations Services workers were ‘service contractors,’ not labour hire, and thus exempt from Same Job Same Pay orders.

While we are confident that BHP will throw everything they have at trying to avoid getting an order, we are confident that OS workers meet the conditions for the regulated labour hire arrangement orders we have applied for.

BHP and other mining companies must accept that using labour hire purely to cut pay is out of step with community standards and is now out of step with the law.

In addition to the applications filed at BHP’s Queensland coal mines the MEU has made another application for labour hire workers employed by Workpac at Poitrel open-cut mine in Central Queensland, with many more to come.

We are prioritising applications at sites where we have strong union membership. If you want to see Same Job Same Pay at your workplace, the best way is to join the MEU and help build support among your workmates.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the extremely difficult circumstances at Grosvenor underground mine in battling an underground fire that broke out in the early morning of 29 June. Explosions and fires are every underground miners’ worst nightmare. We have been closely involved in efforts to control the fire and recover the mine, while also focusing on the well-being of the workforce. We are in regular discussions with Anglo about the outlook for workers we and appreciate the efforts of all involved in managing this situation, which has been upsetting and frightening for the whole mining community.

Mitch Hughes

President Mining and Energy Union Queensland District