June 27, 2025
The Mining and Energy Union and ACTU are demanding a change to unfair and punitive lockout laws, following members at the Metropolitan Mine near Helensburgh being locked out by their employer for almost three weeks in retaliation for taking one hour of industrial action.
Since November the MEU Helensburgh lodge has been engaged in bargaining with Peabody, the owner of Metropolitan. Peabody has consistently failed to cede ground on many of the Lodge’s claims, leading to multiple conciliation hearings in the Fair Work Commission.
Particularly contentious is Peabody’s efforts to remove the mine’s longstanding job security clause, which sets the ratio of directly employed workers to labour hire contractors, and prevents Peabody from replacing permanent jobs with labour hire. The Helensburgh Lodge is also seeking pay increases to bring the site in line with Illawarra standards.
In pursuit of these claims, MEU members voted overwhelming to pursue industrial action, notifying Peabody of their intent to take one-hour stop works at the beginning of some shifts, as well as placing partial work bans on the transport of wide loads through the main drift and on training.
Having only undertaken a single one-hour stop work each, the Helensburgh miners were shocked on Wednesday 18 June to discover that Peabody had locked them out for over a week, denying wages to the workers and their families. Expecting to return to work on Thursday 25 June, they again had the rug pulled out from under them when Peabody extended the lockout to 6 July.
Helensburgh Lodge President Matt Potter said that workers were undeterred by Peabody’s strategy of coercion and would continue to fight for fair pay and job security.
“Peabody’s standover tactics are designed to intimidate us into giving up our bargaining rights, but we aren’t ready to roll over,” Matt said.
“We’ve been through several years of stagnate wage growth and cost of living pressures, while continually setting production records at the mine.
“We’re not ready to give up yet, this isn’t our first rodeo.”
Indeed, punitive and disproportionate lockouts have long been a favoured tactic of Peabody, and they are becoming increasingly prominent in other operations. This is Matt’s fifth lockout in as many EAs at the site, making vindictive employer response depressingly routine for the miners.
ACTU Secretary Sally McManus called on the Federal Government to reform the laws which enable disproportionate Employer Response Action, drawing a comparison to TFTU members who were locked out by their employer in January.
“Whenever a multinational attempts to crush a workforce, the union movement will oppose the sort of heavy-handed punitive action we’re seeing being exercised by Peabody mining.
“We saw it earlier this year, when the Japanese multi-national, Opal locked out 300 pulp and paper mill manufacturing workers in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley” McManus said.
“These completely disproportionately harsh lock outs need to stop; and our outdated lockout laws reviewed so that employers can’t unilaterally shutout workers taking protected industrial action.”
McManus’ views were echoed by South West District President Bob Timbs, who also called for the law to be changed to prevent draconian response actions.
“Peabody’s disproportionate response reveals a totally uneven playing field. Union members are required to hold a vote, reach a consensus on industrial action and notify employers in advance; employers are able to unilaterally lock out workers in response for as long as they want, denying the workers and their families an income.”
“This is an important unfinished reform that we urge the Government to address without delay, to fulfill their commitment to fair and genuine workplace bargaining.”
District Vice President Mark Jenkins, who sits on the MEU bargaining team for Metropolitan, hoped that US coal giant would recognise that their strategy was failing, and come back to the table in good faith.
“Peabody needs to drop the Trump-style bullying tactics and engage constructively with MEU members demands.
“Helensburgh miners aren’t intimidated by Peabody’s heavy-handed strategy; it has only strengthened their resolve to secure a better deal for their families and workmates.”