The job cuts on Tuesday were outcomes from an ongoing organisational review.

The Illawarra Mercury reported that “mostly managerial” positions were shed with about half being contractor roles and the other half being permanent staff.

These retrenchments are in addition to the first phase of the coal market downturn-triggered review that made 36 permanent and contractor jobs redundant in April.

The Collieries Staff and Officials Association, a division of the Professionals Australia union, has claimed the company did not take steps to mitigate the effects of the news on its staff or to properly consult with them.

“We are disappointed that Illawarra Coal has undertaken an organisational review over the last two months, but has not consulted genuinely with staff in that time,” CSOA director Catherine Bolger said.

“We urge Illawarra Coal to explore the option of offering voluntary redundancies before any forced redundancies.

“We call on Illawarra Coal to do the right thing by staff and work with them to reach better options for both staff and the business.”

Illawarra Coal operates the Appin, West Cliff and Dendrobium longwall mines in the Southern Coalfields of New South Wales.