Aurizon faces Queensland coal rail strikes

Australian rail operator Aurizon is preparing for industrial action on its Queensland coal network on 14, 15 and 17 December, which will stop coal services on each of its corridors for 24 hours.

The industrial action will stop all coal haulage services on the Blackwater and Moura corridors, which connect mines in the southern Bowen basin with the port of Gladstone, for 24 hours on 14 December.

It will stop all coal operations on the Goonyella line — which connects the northern Bowen basin with the ports of Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) — and the Newlands line, which connects the northern Bowen basin to Abbot Point, for 24 hours on 15 December.

It will close the West Morton line, which connects Australian independent New Hope's New Acland mine and Yancoal's Yarrabee and Cameby Downs mines to the port of Brisbane, for 24 hours on 17 December.

The Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Employees, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and the Electrical Trades Union are bringing the industrial action, after negotiations over a new enterprise agreement broke down. Aurizon is urging the unions to withdraw the industrial action.

Aurizon has been beset with industrial action this year as it tries to simultaneously renegotiate terms across most of its workers at a lower pay increase than under previous agreements and to split the agreement for its coal haulage from the remainder of its business.

Members of the RTBU undertook industrial action in Queensland in July, but quickly returned to the negotiating table to try to resolve the dispute.

The disruption comes as Aurizon continues to face significant headwinds to its capacity from a change in its maintenance regime.

It expects the new maintenance regime, which it blames on proposed reductions in its regulated maximum earnings, to remove 20mn t/yr or more of capacity from the Queensland rail network in the 2018-19 financial year, which started on 1 July. The network had a nominal capacity of 225mn t/yr before the change to the maintenance regime.

The industrial action could cause further reductions in capacity unless Aurizon is able to persuade the unions to return to the negotiating table. It comes as queues at DBCT increased to a new record of 56 this week, as ships wait to load coking and thermal coal at the port.

Aurizon in August reached a deal with the New South Wales branch of the RTBU, which stopped industrial action in the state.