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News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Fair Work Commission rules against BHP in ‘same job same pay' decision on Queensland coal mines
Some 2200 coal mine workers in Queensland's Bowen Basin are in line for a $30,000 pay bump following a landmark ruling from the Fair Work Commission against mining giant BHP. The Mining and Energy Union and Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union took the $200bn behemoth to court over the Same Job Same Pay reforms. Passed in 2023, the changes are designed to equalise pay rates between direct hire and labour hire employees at large-scale enterprises if they are performing the same job. The unions argued BHP had undercut worker wages at its coal mines by using an in-house labour hire service called OS Production and Maintenance. Late Monday evening, the FWC determined the work performed by OS employees at the company's Saraji, Peak Downs and Goonyella Riverside mines was not 'for the provision of a service, rather than for the supply of labour' and so delivered 'regulated labour hire arrangement orders'. The orders clear the way for average worker pay bumps of $30,000 at a cost of $66m to the company, the ACTU has claimed. 'This is about Australian unions winning wage justice for workers, which stops labour hire workers being treated as second-class citizens,' ACTU secretary Sally McManus said after the ruling. 'Wealthy mining companies like BHP have clawed money out of workers' pay packets for many years when the income should be returned to workers, their families and the communities they support.' Several factors contributed to the ruling. First, the FWC determined BHP held significant control and direction of where OS employees would work, what they would do and details of how the work would be performed. Second, the workers were compelled to adhere to 'detailed and highly prescriptive requirements imposed by BMA (BHP Mitsubishi Alliance)'. Further, the FWC found OS workers used 'virtually entirely, plant and equipment supplied by BMA to perform work'. 'That consideration supports a conclusion that the work performed by employees of OS Production is not for the provision of a service, rather than the supply of labour,' the bench ruled. It also concluded that although the work performed by OS employees might be specialised, it was of the 'same nature and involves the same specialised and expert skills as are exercised by employees of BHP Coal performing the same work'. The ruling also covers employees with labour hire companies Workpac and Chandler McLeod, who the commission found were 'performing the same work in the same crews and BMA employees and receiving substantially lower remuneration because of the identity of their employer'. The landmark decision could up-end labour arrangements across the country's massive and lucrative mining sector. Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable called the decision 'incredibly disappointing' and said it would 'directly threaten thousands of specialised contractors who play a vital role in mining operations across the country'. 'Unlike labour hire, these businesses exist to provide a specialised service, not just workers, and should never have been covered by these laws,' she said. 'These businesses now face the risk of being drawn into complex and costly legal proceedings, creating instability in employment arrangements that have long supported operational flexibility, efficiency and mining productivity. 'The commission's ruling confirms what the MCA has long argued: that the government's legislation goes well beyond its original promise to target only the 'limited circumstances' where 'labour hire' is used to deliberately undercut wages.' BHP, meanwhile, has railed against what it sees as an escalation in excessive cost burdens on its Queensland operations, citing complex industrial relations demands and the state's sharp coal royalty regime. The company has reduced its footprint in the Bowen Basin in recent years, offloading its Daunia and Blackwater mines to Whitehaven Coal in April last year. It now runs five mines in conjunction with Mitsubishi: Saraji, Goonyella, Caval Ridge, Broadmeadow and Peak Downs.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
BHP ordered to pay workers an average $30,000 more after defeat in landmark labour hire ruling
Mining giant BHP has been defeated in a landmark test of the federal government's "same job, same pay" laws and ordered to pay 2,200 of its Central Queensland coal miners an average of $30,000 more. Labour hire workers at BHP's Saraji, Peak Downs and Goonyella Riverside mines will now receive the same wages as their directly employed peers. It is the largest ruling relating to the coal mining sector since the Albanese government's "same job, same pay" laws came into effect last year. The laws require labour hires to be offered the same pay and conditions as full-time employees when doing the same work. If applied to all labour hires across its mines, the ruling could cost BHP around $1.3 billion a year, according to the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association (AREEA). The Mining and Energy Union made the application to the Fair Work Commission and BHP had argued for an exemption on the grounds that the workers were providing a service, not labour, but its case was unsuccessful. That service contractor exemption was added to the labour hire laws in negotiations with AREEA in 2023, and the association has renewed calls for further amendments following this case. The mining union's Queensland president, Mitch Hughes, said the ruling was a significant win for coal workers and marked a "nail in the coffin for BHP's sham labour hire model". "If you are doing the same job as the person beside you, you deserve the same pay," he said. "What we'd like to see is the likes of BHP and mining companies turn these jobs into permanent jobs." BHP has been contacted for comment but has previously warned such a ruling could put thousands of jobs at risk. The decision marks the seventeenth successful application for the union.
