Unionized workers at Glencore's six export coal mines in eastern Australia's Hunter Valley are to hold off engaging in large-scale strikes in order to restart negotiations with the coal producer next week, following 11 weeks of rolling industrial action, said a senior union official on Friday.
Around 1,400 workers belonging to the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union finished a four-day strike on Thursday at five of Glencore's open-cut mines -- Bulga, Glendell, Liddell, Mangoola and Ravensworth -- and have returned to normal working, said union and company sources.
A sixth Glencore operation, the Bulga underground mine, also located in the Hunter Valley coal field, experienced a 10-hour work stoppage on Friday that started at 7 am Sydney time.
"There is no planned aggregate stoppage in the near future," said Peter Jordan, president of the CFMEU's New South Wales northern mining district.
"The intention is to resume negotiations and see what progress we have," he said.
The union's representatives are scheduled to have face-to-face talks with company managers on Tuesday next week at three of the Glencore Hunter Valley mines, and talks for other company mines in the region will restart later in the week, said Jordan.
"We are still very keen to resolve the issues and look forward to some positive negotiations," he said.
But industrial action will not cease completely as some work stoppages, lasting two hours or a nightshift duration, are set to occur at some of the six Glencore Hunter Valley mines, he stated.
Around 1,300 unionized workers involved in the Glencore dispute attended a mass meeting on Tuesday this week in Singleton, New South Wales, that coincided with the four-day strike.
The industrial action was sparked by a union campaign in order to address issues such as security of employment for permanent employees, redundancy terms for retrenched workers, and the use of contractors.
"They are adamant to fix up the security of employment issue," said Jordan of the sentiment at Tuesday's large-scale workers' meeting.
The union has asked the company to increase contractors' pay rates to a level similar to that of permanent mineworkers, he said.
Glencore, meanwhile, has stepped up its information campaign against the industrial dispute and has sent its Hunter Valley employees letters outlining its position on the industrial dispute.
The industrial dispute affecting Glencore's mines in the Hunter Valley erupted into strikes in early-June, starting with the Liddell and Mangoola mines, before spreading to the Glendell, Ravensworth and Bulga mining complexes later that month.
The dispute escalated into strikes after negotiations to settle fresh collective agreements for each mine's workforce, some of which expired two years ago, broke down.
Glencore has confirmed on Friday that its employees have returned to work after this week's four-day strike and said that it will, in good faith, continue to engage in bargaining on workplace issues.
The company said that none of its proposed new workplace agreements for its Hunter Valley coal mines contained terms that were not already accepted at Glencore's other operations in Australia.
Glencore added that the union's demand for the coal producer to limit the percentage of contractors in its coal mining workforce was not lawful and has now been withdrawn by the union.
"Given it had become the primary focus of the union campaign, there should be no reason for industrial action to continue," said the company in its statement.
