KEY POINTS:
An Australian engineering contractor and its locked-out miners are meeting over a pay dispute that has stopped production at a Waikato mine.
New South Wales-based company Leighton Contractors locked about 200 miners out of the mine, near Huntley, on Tuesday night, after the employees started a go-slow and refused overtime work.
Leighton Contractors bought out Henry Walker Enterprises, the previous operators of the mine, in February last year.
The executive general manager of Leighton's mining division, Craig Laslett, said he was disappointed with the rejection of the company's offer of a 5 per cent pay rise.
"We have been working closely with the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union since April, and we will continue to work with them to resolve this issue," Mr Laslett said.
The company operated the mining business for New Zealand state-owned coal mining company Solid Energy.
The industrial action was part of a nationwide pay dispute involving more than 800 coal miners employed by Solid Energy and its contractors.
About 100 Huntley East miners walked off the job at 7am yesterday for 48 hours in support of the locked-out Rotowaro miners.
Union national secretary Andrew Little said the Rotowaru lockout was an over-reaction.
"After being stonewalled at negotiations our members voted to impose a go-slow and an overtime ban, only for HWE to escalate the situation with a full lockout."
Meanwhile, miners at Solid Energy's Stockton mine, north of Westport, were continuing with an overtime ban against mining contractor Doug Hood.
Solid Energy and the union have been trying since April to negotiate a new multi-employer collective agreement.
- NZPA
