The protest comes as Spring Creek and Terrace miners enter their eighth day of indefinite strike action, part of a nationwide industrial dispute involving more than 800 coal miners employed by Solid Energy and its contractors.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union acting national secretary Ged O’Connell said Solid Energy had released false information about its employees’ wage rates in a “desperate PR stunt”

“Our members do hard and dirty work every day in an industry that’s making very healthy profits, and all they’re asking for is a pay rise that reflects this,” O’Connell said.

“Solid Energy needs to come back to us with a decent pay offer and stop wasting taxpayers’ money on high-priced spin doctors who can’t even get their facts right. The only people earning exorbitant wages at Solid Energy are working in management.”

In a statement on Wednesday Solid Energy urged industrial action at its coal mines to be lifted and for the EPMU to return to the bargaining table.

“The industrial action is disruptive to our operations and is costly for the company, its customers and the staff who are taking it. The strike action at Spring Creek Underground Mine is causing particular concern as it is delaying development at the mine,” Solid Energy chief Barry Bragg said.

“We’ve got a good offer on the table: a two-year settlement totalling 5.5 percent in the first year, 5 percent in the second year and an additional week’s holiday.”

Solid Energy said Spring Creek workers had already received a site settlement which, together with its current offer, would see them receive pay rate increases totalling 11% and lump sum payments of 4.5% by April 1, 2008.

“This includes a 2 percent pay rate increase if we meet our target of starting coal production by hydraulic monitor at the mine on December 1,” Bragg said.

“The current industrial action is putting that payment at risk as the longer this drags on the less likelihood there is that we can start producing coal at the mine on target. We call on the EPMU to lift the industrial action so that we can get back to the bargaining table.”

Solid Energy and the EPMU have been in negotiation since April for a new two-year multi-employer collective agreement covering the company’s minesites.

On Monday June 25, the union placed a national ban on overtime and began rolling stoppages across Solid Energy sites.

Workers at Spring Creek and Terrace underground mines walked off the job a week ago.

Solid Energy said on average employees covered by the MECA received one and a half times the average national wage.

“In the last two years Solid Energy pay increases have averaged 5 percent per annum [CPI over the same two-year period totalled 5.8 percent]. The company voluntarily established a superannuation scheme three years ago and is offering to move its 4 percent contributions to Kiwi Saver,” Solid Energy said.