Xstrata to suspend Tahmoor mine in one week lockout

Xstrata will lock its workers out and shut operations at the Tahmoor coal mine in eastern Australia between Feb 8 and Feb 14 in response to rolling strikes and union wage demands, the firm said today.

The Swiss-based miner said the more than 320 hours of industrial action at the colliery, which produces about 2 million tonnes of hard coking coal annually, is not in the long term interest of the company.

It said that enterprise agreement negotiations have been conducted throughout the past 15 months with over 50 meetings held to date between the company and the CFMEU union.

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"During this time, the CFMEU has taken over 320 hours of direct industrial action and implemented 850 hours of workplace bans," Xstrata said.

Xstrata said its proposed wage offer would increase workers' base salary by 25 percent over four year and together with other changes, total packages would rise by 37 percent.

Union officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

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