The Queensland mining and gas community’s best source of local news Monday August 25, 2014 187th Edition SHIFT MINER www.shiftminer.com MAGAZINE Locally Owned & Operated BOOM TO BUST SPOTLIGHT ON THE ENDLESS CYCLE OF WAGES » Page 4 / Ê*,/ ,-\ Ê/>ÞÀÊÊ° /9",- - >ÀÊ-Ì ÊÊ VÉ° Êà TAYLORS À>}Ê7ÀÃiÞÊÊ° -" /",- Ài}Ê >ÀÀ The Partners: SOLICITORS John Taylor - LL.B * ,-"Sharon Smith - BÊEc/LL.B H on1,s 9Ê - Craig Worsley - LL.B Greg CÊ arroll /- * iÊ{xÇÊÓ{{ÊÊ>ÝÊ{xÇÊÓä£È 7",Ê /- ÜÜÜ°Ì>ÞÀÃÃVÌÀðV°>Õ "/",Ê6 Ê /- i>\Ê>JÌ>ÞÀÃÃVÌÀðV°>Õ iÛiÊÓÉ£ÇÊ ÀÃL>iÊ-ÌÀiiÌÊ>V>Þ PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM S-1, É/* Ê - Mining Accidents " 6 9 ÊÊÊÊÊ -// Ê7ÊÊÊÊÊ " , Ê7 Work Accidents Motor Vehicle Accidents Insurance/TPD Claims CONVEYANCING ESTATE LAW COMMERCIAL LAW Phone 4957 2944 Fax 4957 2016 www.taylors-solicitors.com.au email: [email protected] Level 2/ 17 Brisbane Street Mackay Shift Miner Magazine CONTENTS 10 NEWS 4 How much are you worth? 5 Adani opportunities open up 6 Bechtel’s watertight delivery 8 1000 new coal jobs 9 Cut wages to stay competitive 11 15 REGULARS 9 15 Frank the Tank 16 Miner’s Trader 17 Off Shift 18 20 Sport Queensland mining community's best source of local news Phone: (07) 4921 4333 Fax: (07) 4922 6908 [email protected] Editor: Inga Stünzner Advertising: Angus Peacocke 0428 154 653 SHIFT MINER Published fortnightly by Fitzroy Publishing Pty Ltd Locally Owned A.B.N 72122739879 PO Box 1440, Rockhampton Q 4700 and Operated MAGAZINE www.shiftminer.com Invoice Today & Get Paid Today!* Yes, there is an alternative to a business overdraft. We’ll show you how to take the handbrake off your business & put your cashfl ow back into gear. Call: 1300 788 945 or Bruce Meredith: 0448 052 069 Reliable Debtor Finance Solutions www.cashfl owfi nance.com.au *Conditions apply. 25th August 2014 3 Shift Miner Magazine www.shiftminer.com News Wages caught up in an endless cycle missus. They have the attitude that this is So how could some of the pain of forever when it’s not.” the boom-bust cycle be minimised? Curtis Island workers are currently Employees need to scale back their laughing all the way to the bank. expectations and be realistic about Last week they voted to accept Bechtel’s what companies can afford to pay, latest offering which included a 13 per cent according to Mr Joy. pay rise and daily allowances that will total “There is this perception out there between $90 and $115/day by November. that employers hate paying their The new agreement means the workers the big bucks, but actually American construction giant should be that’s not true,” he said. able to deliver the world-first project on “When times are good they are time, with LNG still expected to be ready happy to pay but things can change. for export later this year. “Many employees have this idea that it is It also helped to stave off some low-key ‘us’ versus ‘them’, that in these negotiations industrial action which had caused minor someone wins and someone loses. Most disruptions to the project. people have no concept of win-win.” Further north in the coalfields, and However, Mr Joy said employers “You’re worth what you’re worth at the time,” according to workplace consultant Craig Joy it’s a vastly different story. were not blameless either. CURTIS Island workers are pocketing “At the top of the cycle you might be Shift Miner understands a major “In the boom times comes the notion $100/day in allowances at the same time worth $100/hour and at the bottom of the contractor has cut workforce salaries by from companies that they want it done as major contractors in the Bowen Basin cycle you might be worth $20/hour.” up to $30,000 a year at one site in a bid to yesterday at whatever the cost,” he said. are cutting wages by $30,000 a year. Mr Joy said resource industry workers - hold onto an existing contract. “Then when it all crashes and the It seems unbelievable but that’s the whether they were in the coalfields or the In Mackay and Rockhampton, Hastings coal price drops they want to reel it in boom-bust nature of the construction gasfields - needed to reset the idea that big Deering workers are facing another overnight.” and resources sector. wages were guaranteed long term. round of redundancies as mining services However, Mr Joy doesn’t hold out So just how much is your time worth? “Telegraph operators were worth their businesses - big and small - struggle with much hope of a watershed moment; According to Mackay-based weight in gold once, and then one day they the prolonged downturn. more likely, history repeating. workplace consultant Craig Joy, the weren’t needed any more,” he warned. “I’ve dealt with a contracting company “It’s just human nature, isn’t it?” answer is straightforward. “A lot of miners are living hand to mouth which recently handed out a 40 per cent he laughed. “It will be boom and bust “This is about simple market when they’re on $150 grand or more. pay hit in one go,” said Mr Joy. forever. It will just keep happening.” forces,” he told Shift Miner. “They have everything on the drip “In another case it was 40 per cent “You are worth what you’re worth feed - the big fishing boat, jet ski, a fully but over two stages. These are the COMMENT OR SMS 0409 471 014 at the time. optioned Prado and another one for the sorts of things that are happening.” NATURALLY DIFFERENT ANGLO AMERICAN’S CAPCOAL UNDERGROUND OPERATIONS, MIDDLEMOUNT, QUEENSLAND With extensive coal mining operations in South Africa, Australia, Canada, and signifi cant interest in Cerrejón in Colombia, Anglo American is committed to creating value from coal safely and responsibly, growing our business through our attractive project pipeline and investing in the communities in which we operate. We are aligned with the overall ambition of having the right people doing the right work at the right level, building the leading global mining company. 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To fulfi l your true potential apply, quoting the relevant reference number, online at www.angloamerican.com.au ANG2407 4 25th August 2014 Shift Miner Magazine www.shiftminer.com News Small waves but Adani to advertise ASAP Queensland, and more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs – further still no tsunami... opportunities for our suppliers, crucially THE long-awaited tsunami of maintenance have to,” he said. including small and medium sized has not yet hit Mackay’s industrial “If things are worn out, I think there is businesses, will be advertised as they precinct of Paget, but there are some small finally some budget to maintain or replace it. become available,” he said. waves washing in, according to local “I wouldn’t say there are signs of a recovery, The proposed standard gauge rail business owner Allan Ruming. but maybe we have bounced off the bottom.” line is expected to take about 2500 After 18 months of stagnation, Mr Twelve months ago, Mr Ruming coined workers nearly two years to build and Ruming said finally some little things were the now popular ‘Bradbury effect’ phrase pump $790 million into the Mackay starting to happen; however, he emphasised for businesses in the Paget area. region and more than $900 million into times had never been more difficult for many “Companies will change completely, the state economy over that time. businesses servicing the mining sector. disappear or absorb one another,” he DESPITE plans to kick off construction The whole project comes with a $2.2 “Unfortunately the maintenance tsunami said at the time. next year, Indian construction giant billion price-tag for Adani, which has we have all been waiting for hasn’t arrived, “It’s a time of dramatic change for Adani cannot detail the exact nature of already nominated Korean company but there are signs of some small little many businesses. Group Engineering [Mr work packages that will be needed for POSCO as the preferred contractor. improvements,” he told Shift Miner. Ruming’s business] has shrunk from a its massive Galilee rail project. Local business has been desperate “Speaking to people in the area, there staff of 35 people to four, and is about to The Queensland government has for detail on the needs of the project is a little bit of maintenance starting move to a smaller premises. now approved the 300 kilometre after Adani called for expressions of to trickle through, and anecdotally the “So what’s in it for the stayers? Why railway that will connect its billion interest in supplying services just over a enquiry rate has improved somewhat.