Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Miners who don’t show up to work the Christmas and New Year period at Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa copper and gold mine in Western Australia, are being threatened with major fines and pay cuts, reports The West.
According to the memo distributed to Australian Contract Mining staff, an employee’s only acceptable excuse not to turn up was “death,” which “must be accompanied with a coroner’s report to confirm this.”
The document, signed by ACM’s site manager and posted on site, said fly-in, fly-out workers would be fined flight and accommodation costs and risk being put on a lower pay grade if they failed to show up for work.
Preliminary findings from a Murdoch University study released yesterday found many FIFO workers did not believe their employers cared about their wellbeing and they did not feel valued. And last month, a study led by Australia’s Griffith University showed shift miners working long hours are more likely to suffer from depression, fatigue and a wide range of illnesses.
12 Comments
Sosso
Agreed gents. If you want the rewards, you do the dag. I’ve done it and sometimes it was a little bit tough but I paid off the house, the boat and the dog. Obviously there’s a sense of humour somewhere in this. Harden up you other wooses and get real. Chest beating soft handed do-gooders will sink this country.
Bruce Tyler
I love that softy do-gooders are also somehow chest beaters.
Mark Jones
Hmmm, want the big bucks?…fulfil your obligations…its a NO brainer!
James Tweedie
I’m guessing Sandfire Resources aren’t going for an Investors in People Award: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Pages/Home.aspx
Stopemaster
I am guessing that most of you are investors who really do not care about the worker. Margins, margins, margins…
Geof
how about those who will be on leave, are they suppose to shorten it? thats mining, crazy
aziago
Scandalous and outrageous!
Shameless violent aggression against workers which should be responded in the same manner.
And some of the comments on this article show the poor specimens of humans that unfortunately abound in this world…
I guess they are not miners, or even workers… They probably are the people writing the threats… Shame on you!
jman1000
You obviously have never worked in a fly in fly out camp. I have worked these camps for over half my life and I love it, I get paid exceptionally well and am always well looked after in camp. In return I am willing to give the company what is expected of me. If I have a problem with the policies implemented I have a choice, I can quit and go to work somewhere else. Everyone has this choice. The company has the right to manage and create a profit which in turn results in jobs for people in order to take care of their families. Every work place has policies in place which do not sit well with some employees and these people are free to find a position somewhere else that more suits their demeanor.
aziago
I was responding to the death threat content of the message issued by the company. It’s not a question of demeanor, it’s a question of consciousness and civility. These are things which I gather you don’t care about. But still they are important. You should be conscious you are being exploited every time you go to work for these companies. And the company should implement a civilized discourse when talking to it’s employees – they won’t because they prefer to bestialize people, because animal people are easier to control.
You have a choice? How long can you live (in a dignified manner) without working?
Saying to people “your only justification to skip work is death” illustrates the regard with which this employer consider his employees – Shame on him. Similar people were to be found at Auschwitz.
Skipper
Maybe mining companies should treat miners more like the valuable workers they are, and less like indentured servants… just sayin’
Herr Hur
Then I guess you won’t mind if the electricity company cuts your power during Christmas, either. Aren’t those employees “too valuable” to do their work during the holidays, too?
Isn’t it up to the employees to decide how “valuable” their leisure time is before they sign up for the job?
Larry J.
Sounds like they should show up for work, as scheduled. That’s mining my friend.