A Federal Court decision which found that 22 workers who were dismissed at the Metropolitan Mine in Helensburgh in 2020 were not genuine redundancies has been hailed as a landmark case in ongoing "same job, same pay" arguments between unions and employers.
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On Friday, in a three judge decision, the Federal Court dismissed an appeal by the mine's owners, Peabody Energy, of an earlier Fair Work Commission decision that found that the 22 workers were unfairly dismissed as their termination was not a genuine redundancy.
In 2020, the workers were employed directly by Helensburgh Coal. During the global downturn in the demand for coking coal, the mine owners proposed shedding nearly 100 staff and cutting contractor numbers.
While some of the workers agreed to leave, the 22 workers involved in the court action had their employment terminated by Helensburgh Coal.
The workers went to the Fair Work Commission, arguing they had been unfairly dismissed, as the work they had done at the mine was picked up by contract workers not directly employed by Helensburgh Coal.
Across four decisions including two appeals, the Fair Work Commission found that none of these dismissals was a case of "genuine redundancy".
Helensburgh Coal appealed these decisions to the Federal Court, arguing the Fair Work Commission ruled in error.
The Federal Court dismissed this appeal, sending the case back to the Commission for a final decision on remedies for the workers.
Bob Timbs, Mining and Energy Union south west district vice president, said the decision was a win for the union's fight to push employers to employ staff directly.
"If we can restore permanent work as the dominant model in our industry, everyone benefits," he said.
"Almost half of the coal mining workforce in the Southern District are labour hire contractors. It's a model that employers have embraced to erode pay, rights, conditions and job security."
Mr Timbs and mine workers in the Illawarra have been part of a nation-wide push to reduce outsourcing in the mining industry.
Last year, the government's Closing Loopholes legislation was passed by the Senate, which included reforms to target large companies using labour hire to undercut directly employed workers.
An earlier Senate inquiry heard that workers were paid tens of thousands of dollars less than their workmates hired through a labour hire company.
While it is not suggested that Helensburgh Coal was paying contract workers any differently than directly employed workers, the company has been targeted by unions for turning to labour hire firms in the past.
Peabody has been contacted for comment.
