Workers at Tahmoor Colliery in New South Wales are reeling after 238 permanent roles were cut amid the liquidation of the mine under GFG Alliance. Liquidators have given employees a brief window to either take six weeks' unpaid leave while the mine's sale is considered or accept immediate redundancy.
Jimmy Baker, who worked at the mine for 22 years, described the shock of losing his job. 'It's living in limbo for the last 12 months and not knowing if you're going to have a job tomorrow, the next day, the day after. Then to have it black and white that you no longer have a job, I'm gutted. Absolutely gutted,' he said.
Martin Sawyer, who started at the mine as an apprentice and worked there for over 40 years, said he received an email at 10pm confirming his redundancy. 'It was not something everyone wanted at that time of the night to go to sleep on knowing that there's an email coming about your future,' he said. He described himself and his colleagues as 'numb'.
The mine, south-west of Sydney, has faced financial turmoil for over a year under Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance. Operations stopped in February last year, and a winding-up application began in August. The mine entered voluntary administration amid $250 million in related-party debt. On February 6, the NSW Supreme Court placed it into liquidation.
Mining and Energy Union South Western District secretary Andy Davey said the speed of the redundancies had left workers scrambling. 'We've advised the members to potentially take six weeks' leave without pay so that we can go through what's happened and process what's happened,' he said. Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould said he saw great despair among workers during information sessions.
