While the miner indicated as early as July that an effort to reduce costs would result in job losses, a lack of details on recently reported cuts has intensified media speculation and finger pointing.
As of press time, ILN was unable to obtain comment from Rio on the issue.
Earlier this week, Clermont and Kestrel reportedly axed 25 and 10 positions respectively, with Clermont cuts coming from contractor positions and Kestrel redundancies made in the business analysis, communications, administration and procurement units.
According to a report by The Morning Bulletin, a Rio spokesman said some roles would no longer be required but he declined to confirm the exact nature of the cuts presumed to affect the central Queensland operations.
“Like others in the industry, Rio Tinto Coal Australia has made it clear it is facing the challenge of increasing costs in an environment of significantly lower coal prices and a high foreign exchange rate,” he said.
“We are working to improve our competitiveness by actively seeking ways to reduce costs across our business, which unfortunately means some roles will no longer be required.”
While Rio has consistently blamed the need for jobs reductions in the Bowen Basin on unfavourable market conditions, Queensland’s recent mining royalties hike has been attributed as the most immediate impetus.
The government and unions, however, are not buying it.
Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney has stated that royalties are not the biggest cost factor for miners and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union is calling Rio’s latest job cuts an excuse to “trim the fat”
“I think the industry is taking the opportunity to trim some of the fat so they maintain the bottom line of the huge, enormous profits they’re earning,” CFMEU president Steve Smyth told the ABC this week.
“The Aussie dollar is still high but there’s means and mechanisms in place they can be doing to review their operations.
“It doesn’t mean you’ve just got to cull and cut your workforce as soon as you’ve got a little bit of a blip or are potentially going to lose some of your profits.”
Rio had said the state government’s royalty increase exacerbated an already challenging environment for coal and it was protecting jobs wherever possible.
