Peabody’s Metropolitan Mine at Helensburgh. Photo: Peabody.
Operators of Helensburgh’s Metropolitan Mine have failed to have a Fair Work Commission decision overturned in the High Court, confirming that the sacking of almost two dozen employees in 2020 were not genuine redundancies.
International coal giant Peabody dismissed 22 underground miners after the pandemic reduced the demand for coking coal extracted from the mine and it resolved to restructure operations to require fewer workers.
However, in 2022 the Fair Work Commission determined these were not true redundancies, given the employees could have been reasonably redeployed into roles being undertaken by contractors.
Mine operators appealed the decision twice to the Fair Work Commission before taking the issue to the Federal Court, where the decision was upheld, and then the High Court which made the determination on 6 August to again dismiss the request.
“For over five years, these workers have been fighting to protect the very principle of job security in the mining industry,” Mining and Energy Union General Secretary Grahame Kelly said.
“Today’s decision reaffirms that they should never have been sacked, and that Peabody’s claim that they had been made redundant was never genuine.”
A dismissal is determined to be a ‘genuine redundancy’ if the person’s employer no longer requires the person’s job to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of the employer’s enterprise, and the employer has complied with any obligation in a modern award or enterprise agreement that applied to the employment to consult about the redundancy.
In its appeals, the operator argued the work undertaken by contractors from organisations Menster and Nexus was specialist work and insourcing would be “operationally impracticable”.
The commissioner previously determined there was “no easily identifiable reason why [the employees] could not be performing this work”.
The failed final bid to have four determinations quashed marked an important milestone for the union, workers involved and future precedent for dismissals.
“Today, the High Court has been clear: permanent workers cannot be removed in favour of contractors through dodgy corporate restructuring,” Grahame said.
“This is especially vital in the mining industry where employers have form exploiting labour hire to erode pay, rights, conditions and job security.”
A Peabody spokesperson said, “Whilst we are disappointed with the outcome, we acknowledge the decision of the High Court and are currently assessing its implications.”
The court decision comes amid continual tensions between the mining operators and the union, with workers locked out of Metropolitan Mine for weeks without pay earlier in the year in response to strike action.
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