Five unions representing Australian coal terminal employees have called for an eight-hour strike Friday at the Port Waratah Coal Services export facility, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
The strike is expected to start at 6:30 a.m. Sydney time Friday (2030 GMT Thursday), spokesman Paul Chamberlin said.
The company received notice of the strike Monday evening, ahead of talks scheduled for Tuesday between PWCS managers and union representatives.
Another round of talks is scheduled for Thursday on the company's proposed workplace agreement for unionized coal terminal operations staff.
Unions object to several aspects of the proposed collective agreement. They want to retain a local disputes resolution process and have sought assurances from the company on job security and the use of contractors.
The groups representing about 220 workers at the PWCS coal terminals started the campaign on Wednesday with a four-hour work stoppage, when they held a meeting and members agreed to intensify their dispute with the company by supporting strikes lasting up to 24 hours at a time.
Some non-union PWCS workers were called in to operate equipment at the company's coal terminals during last week's strike, Chamberlin said.
"In the four-hour period, three ships were loaded safely by permanent, non-union staff without any incident," he said.
Chamberlin declined to say whether the company would again rely on non-union staff during Friday's action.
A union official involved in the dispute could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The PWCS exports facility at Newcastle port comprises two coal terminals, Carrington and Kooragang, which jointly shipped 106 million mt of coal exports in 2012 to customers in China, Japan and South Korea, according to PWCS' website.
The five unions involved in the PWCS dispute are the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, the Maritime Union of Australia, the Transport Workers' Union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union. They have been negotiating with the company on a new workplace agreement for more than nine months.
