40 workers found out they had lost their jobs at Cockatoo Coal’s Baralaba coal mine complex in Central Queensland this week after being handed a letter at the start of their shift.
At the time of posting, Cockatoo Coal was not commenting on the lay-offs or the reason behind the job cuts.
Speaking to The Morning Bulletin, President of the CFMEU Mining Division for Queensland Stephen Smyth said the abrupt manner of the sackings would not have happened if the mine had been unionised.
“If these miners have been notified by a letter then that is really unacceptable to drop a bombshell like that,” he said.
“I don’t know the fine details of their contracts but unfortunately for them when there’s an agreement in place between the employer and employee without the union, this type of thing happens.”
The mine complex is located 3 kilometres north of the small township of Baralaba, and approximately 150km west of Rockhampton.
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