MOUNT Isa Mines says it will work individually with employees who will be affected by the recent announcement of job losses.
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Last week Glencore announced that 224 jobs would be cut at George Fisher mine and it would be suspending production at Lady Loretta with the loss of 242 jobs.
Glencore confirmed that changes were only temporary and they encouraged employees to apply for jobs in the future as production picks up.
Since the announcements, workers have feared for their jobs.
However George Fisher Mine general manager Chris McCleave said changes will take effect gradually throughout the fourth quarter of this year.
We will be working with our employees on an individual basis to provide certainty as soon as possible.
- Chris McCleave
In an effort to minimise the impact on the Mount Isa community Mr McCleave said of the 535 positions affected across Australian operations (in Queensland and the Northern Territory), approximately 200 jobs set to go will be contractor roles and more than two thirds are fly-in fly-out.
“We acknowledge the temporary changes to Glencore’s global zinc production, announced last week, will unfortunately affect employees at our operations,” he said.
“In line with the Enterprise Agreement at Mount Isa Mines we will be undertaking a voluntary redundancy process, which will take place over the next few weeks.
“We will be working with our employees on an individual basis to provide certainty as soon as possible.”
Mount Isa Mines will provide on and off-site assistance to employees and their families with career, financial management and job search support.
Glencore will also take steps to inform employees of future vacancies that arise at George Fisher and Lady Loretta mines, encourage future applications from employees and place no restrictions on re-employment.
Mr McCleave said Mount Isa Mines has a long-term view for Mount Isa operations and they remain very positive about the medium and long-term outlook for the commodities they produce. “Over the past two years our Australian zinc business has invested more than US $1 billion into our operations, which form the world’s largest zinc resource base,” he said.