Monograph Series

Enterprise Bargaining in the Coal Industry - Implications for Work Practices - Monograph Series No 5 (March 1999)

Executive Summary

* The Australian black coal industry is currently facing the greatest economic pressures in its history to operate at best-practice levels.

* Australia's ability to meet these challenges depends to a large extent upon the industry's ability to remove outdated and inefficient work practices.

* In July 1995, the powers of the Coal Industry Tribunal were transferred to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

* Recent decisions by the Commission have altered the working arrangements which operate in the black coal industry.

* In these decisions, the Commission:

- rejected union claims for preference based on seniority in respect of rostering and retention (last in first off);
- rejected union claims for provisions regulating the engagement of contractors;

- rejected union claims for provisions regulating staff levels;
- rejected union claims for a `work model' (which places limitation on the way in which work is performed) and for demarcation of work between production and engineering employees and staff;
- rejected union claims for provisions that preserve the operation of local agreements and customs and practice; and
- accepted management claims for 12 hour shifts.

* Benchmarking studies indicate the productivity of Australian open-cut black coal mines was `very poor':

- truck and shovel operations at NSW black coal mines were estimated to be operating at less than half the productivity performance of similar United States mines;
- dragline operations in NSW would need to improve by around 36 per cent to match United States mines;
- the performance of Queensland mines was, in general, superior to NSW mines; and
- for Queensland dragline operations, productivity levels were found to exceed similar United States mines.

* The most significant cause of poor performance revealed in the benchmarking studies was extremely poor labour productivity in Australian coal mines.

* The specific work practices which were identified as impeding labour productivity in the Australian black coal industry included:

- overstaffing;
- high levels of non-core workers;
- excessive idle time;
- short shifts and shift schedules;
- sick leave usage; and
- high levels of industrial disputation.

- there has been little change in the types of employment permitted;
- seniority remains the basis for retrenchment;
- work time arrangements have not changed substantially;
- little innovation exists in pay arrangements;
- change management processes are largely static; and
- multi-skilling is not increasing.

* No evidence was found that enterprise agreements in the black coal industry are becoming increasingly facilitative.

* Supporting the conclusions from the benchmarking studies, agreements which covered mines in NSW appeared to be more prescriptive and restrictive than those agreements which covered Queensland mines.

* Underground mines were found to include a larger range of prescriptive provisions than open-cut mines.

* The majority of agreements formalised in 1997 and 1998 in the black coal industry contained provisions which were aimed at ensuring continuous operations (such as 7 day schedules, hot seat changes and 12 hour shifts).

* Although provisions relating to employment of fixed term contractors have increased in the last two years, the incidence of casual, temporary and part-time work remains restricted.

* While some agreements have attempted to alter particular provisions, none of the agreements utilised in this analysis contained comprehensive reform to working arrangements of the type indicated by the benchmarking studies. Clearly the challenges associated with introducing best practice working arrangements into the black coal industry still lie ahead, or will be achieved through other means than enterprise bargaining.

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