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Miners at Solid Energy contractor HWE Mining near Huntly walked off the job today after pay negotiations ground to a halt.
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) said the company refused to move on its pay offer at a time when Solid Energy and it's other six contractors in negotiations were starting to make progress towards a settlement.
The industrial action was part of a nationwide pay dispute involving more than 800 coal miners employed by Solid Energy and its contractors.
The 200 miners at HWE Mining began their lightning strike action at Rotowaro mine, near Huntly, at 6am and said they would continue indefinitely, EPMU spokesman Ged O'Connell said.
HWE Mining national communications manager Christian Sealey said they were going to continue to work closely with the union and they hoped the pay row would be resolved in the near future.
Solid Energy and EPMU had been trying to negotiate a new multi-employer collective agreement since April.
The miners, working in seven Solid Energy sites around the country, had been involved in various EPMU co-ordinated actions over the past two weeks, including a national ban on overtime and rolling stoppages.
- NZPA
