Griffin workers may suffer pay cut
Workers at the troubled Griffin coal mine would suffer an overnight pay cut worth about $50,000 under one of three wage options put to them this week.
CFMEU mining and energy division WA secretary, Gary Wood, warned the mine workers would go on strike, potentially disrupting the State's power supply, if mine owner Lanco Infratech insists on the extreme wage cut.
Mr Wood said workers had already agreed to forgo a 7.5 per cent pay rise due this year under an existing pay deal to accommodate Lanco during a period of financial difficulty, but would fight cuts worth tens of thousands of dollars in the upcoming enterprise bargaining agreement.
About 220 operational workers were told by Lanco management on Thursday night that the three pay options had been considered by management, but that they were not formal wage offers.
"We will continue to meet with Griffin Coal . . . but certainly the ranges are completely and totally unacceptable," Mr Wood said.
"Our position is that we will fight that every way that we can, and that includes stoppages if necessary. We will use what we have to maintain where we are at right now."
Mr Wood conceded a stoppage would affect Bluewaters Power Station and potentially undermine WA's power supplies.
He said the first of the three options outlined involved a 42-hour week and a 17.5 per cent pay cut from existing wages, on top of foregoing a 7.5 per cent pay rise that was due this year under an existing pay deal.
Under a second option put to workers, the 17.5 per cent payment would be restored over the next three years, along with CPI-linked increases, but the weekly work hours would jump from 42 to 56 in the same period.
The third option involved a 38 per cent pay reduction along with drop in the work hours to 35 a week, on a five-day roster, which would instantly slash weekend and overtime penalties by $47,000 for the average-earning worker.
Mr Wood said this option would save about $11.5 million a year.
"A $127,000 a year salary would drop to $80,000 - immediately," he said "The workers are angry, and disappointed with the way it's been managed.
"We understand they have some tough decisions but you can't expect workers to take a $50,000 pay cut."
Griffin has haemorrhaged money since being bought by Lanco from administrators for $800 million in 2010 after the collapse of former coal magnate Ric Stowe's business empire.
It recently appeared to have turned a corner after its financier, Indian bank ICICI, bailed it out of several debts to parties including the Australian Taxation Office and Fremantle Ports.
A spokesman for Griffin Coal said he could not comment while negotiations were under way. He said Griffin was consulting the union to identify a solution.
