To date, 6400 man hours have been lost to stoppages at the mine, Glencore said in a statement. 

“The ongoing stoppages have created uncertainty among our workforce and the action is impacting their families,” it said.

“We remain available for meaningful discussions with the CFMEU in pursuit of a modern, flexible Enterprise Agreement at Oaky North that is not only consistent with agreements accepted by the CFMEU at other mining operations but also maintains wage levels that are currently around $100,000 higher than the average annual Australian wage.”

Glencore said operations at Oaky North would continue to use trained and competent personnel.

The CFMEU said Glencore had refused to budge on unfair provisions in the replacement workplace agreement under negotiation. 

CFMEU Queensland district vice-president Chris Brodsky said the deal Glencore was proposing would remove workers’ access to workplace representation in some cases, among a range of other issues. 

“This threatening behaviour from Glencore is unacceptable,” he said. 

“Workers should not feel threatened for simply exercising their right to protest.

“This is just another example of how Glencore treats its workforce.”

Brodsky said the proposed agreement would limit workers’ access to workplace representation and allow the company to unilaterally change rosters against the wishes of employees.

“Workers are not asking for anything more than they are entitled to and with coal prices on the rise, Glencore has no excuse whatsoever for trying to strip workers of their basic right,” he said.