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The Australian trade union said on Thursday workers at South32’s Appin mine failed to reach an agreement with the diversified miner over leave provisions and remuneration.
Supervisors at South32’s Appin coal mine will continue their work strike until at least Sept. 1, the Collieries’ Staff and Officials Association (CSOA) said.
The dispute was about “having a reasonable work-life balance” such as access to leaves and certainty around weekend work, according to the CSOA.
“Despite members attending the meeting in good faith, South32 refused to put forward a fair and decent offer on conditions and wages,” said CSOA lead organiser Belinda Giblin.
South32 had met with mining supervisors and their representatives on Wednesday and outlined some further changes to the offer, the spokesperson said.
“We are disappointed that our offer was not accepted,” the spokesperson added.
Australia’s South32, which had spun off from BHP Group, said it has taken the necessary decision to continue to make parts of the Appin mine non-operational during the strikes.
The company said it will continue to stand down some members of their workforce during the period of industrial action.
“There might be some impact as we move into the development phase, but no material impact as of now,” chief executive officer Graham Kerr said on a call.
“We are very much focussed on trying to resolve this.”
Shares of the miner were down nearly 3% at A$3.6, as of 0132 GMT.
“The ongoing industrial action being undertaken by mining supervisors will impact our ability to supervise our underground workforce and meet our work health and safety obligations,” a company spokesperson told Reuters.
South32 offered marginal changes to rostering, but nothing on the substantive issues of other conditions and remuneration, said a spokesperson for the union.
Workers at the Appin mine have been negotiating with the company for more than eight months, and are now seeking assistance from a government body to resolve the dispute.
They have lodged a bargaining dispute with the Fair Work Commission, which is an Australian industrial relations tribunal.
The trade union on Tuesday notified that it would extend the strike until Sept. 1, while indicating chances of a further extension.
(By Rishav Chatterjee and Sameer Manekar; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Maju Samuel and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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