The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has accused mining giant Glencore of attempting to replace Australian workers with overseas labour at its Mount Isa Mines (MIM) operations in order to undercut fair wage increases in current enterprise bargaining negotiations.
The union, which represents workers across Glencore’s operations in Mount Isa, says the company is seeking to bring up to 120 foreign workers in under a labour agreement despite making hundreds of local workers redundant last year and receiving a $600 million taxpayer-funded rescue package only months ago.
The joint funding commitment from the Australian and Queensland governments was designed to keep the Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville refinery operating until at least 2028, protecting more than 600 direct jobs in Mount Isa and thousands more in the supply chain, including those at Phosphate Hill.
Instead, the AWU says Glencore is now recruiting overseas workers, including conducting in-person interviews in Zambia, while offering wages and conditions to Australian employees that fall well below industry standards.
AWU officials say the company’s approach has been highly hostile during bargaining and appears designed to weaken workers’ bargaining power rather than address the real issue: uncompetitive wages and conditions.
AWU Queensland Branch Secretary Stacey Schinnerl said the move was a direct attack on Australian workers and taxpayers.
“After stripping every cent they could out of the region and running their assets into the ground, Glencore stood beside governments last October and accepted $600 million in public support to keep these operations alive and protect regional jobs,” Ms Schinnerl said.
“Now, while Mount Isa workers are simply asking for an agreement that delivers fair outcomes and a decent wage increase in a cost-of-living crisis, the company’s response is to go shopping overseas for a cheaper workforce.”
“Let’s be clear: this is not a skills shortage. This is a wage shortage.
“Glencore wants to bring in truck drivers, accountants, and bricklayers, I’m sorry but there are ample Australians to do these jobs. They want to bring in electricians, concreters, geologists, and welders, I'm sorry but maybe they should go talk to the hundreds of workers they laid off a few months ago before they look overseas.
Ms Schinnerl said that we know there are Australian workers willing to do the work, but they aren’t going to cop wages and conditions well below standards in the industry.
“The company claims it can’t find local workers. What they actually mean is they can’t find local workers willing to be underpaid,” Ms Schinnerl said.
“After sacking hundreds of workers last year, Glencore is now attempting to import foreign labour to pressure the remaining workforce into accepting substandard pay rises. That is a disgraceful use of taxpayers money and it is not what regional communities were promised.”
The AWU is calling on the Federal Government to urgently review and reconsider any approval allowing the company to recruit overseas workers while bargaining is ongoing.
“The Federal Government must examine whether the foreign labour agreement is being used to suppress wages and undermine collective bargaining,” Ms Schinnerl said.
“Migration programs should never be used as an industrial relations weapon.”
“Before a single overseas worker is brought in, Glencore should do the obvious thing: pay Australian workers a competitive wage.”
Ms Schinnerl warned the decision risked long-term damage to Mount Isa.
“Mining operations aren’t just industrial sites. They are the economic heartbeat of regional towns,” she said.
“Families, small businesses and entire communities depend on these jobs. Replacing local workers with foreign labour after taking public money breaks trust with Mount Isa and with Australia.”
The AWU is calling on Glencore to abandon its plans to import labour and start treating their workers and the Mount Isa community with respect.’
Media contact: Zac Beers 0419 765 955
