Mineworkers better off on collective agreements

Mineworkers on collective agreements typically earn more than $100,000 per year, while those on AWAs typically earn far less than that.

On Tuesday 28 August Steve Knott from the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) and Mitch Hooke from the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) both stated that two thirds of mineworkers earned less than $100,000 per year, and so would not be able to be employed on non-Award employment contracts under the new ALP policy announced yesterday.

These statements are a confession that mineworkers are generally not so well paid, especially when the long average hours (often 56 per week) are factored in, alongside harsh and remote locations.

The stories of mineworkers on AWAs earning fabulous salaries of $120,000 and more are, in general, the exception rather than the rule. The AMMA and the MCA have now publicly admitted that.

Meanwhile, over in the highly unionised coal industry, where ABS statistics show that most workers are on collective agreements, and AWAs are virtually non-existent, mineworkers workers earn an average of over $2,045 pr week, or over $106,000 per year.

Their colleagues on AWAs and inferior common law contracts in metal ore mining earn an average of $1,624 per week, or $84,450 per year. They get paid far less for doing the same job.

The official figures show that mineworkers are far better off if they are in a union and bargain collectively. The mining industry employer groups have now publicly conceded this point.

For further detail about AWAs versus Collective Agreements in the mining industry read the linked story.