Workers at Boggabri coal mine have been told they will need to re-apply for their jobs after the Idemitsu-owned operation awarded a new $700 million contract to BGC Contracting.

The mine is currently operated by Downer Group, but the company was notified in May that its contract would not be renewed once it expired at the end of November.

This week, BGC Contracting was awarded the $700m, five-year contract to deliver mining and equipment maintenance services at the Boggabri open-cut coal mine, which will come into effect on December 1.

The mining union fears local families could uproot and leave the area if they aren’t guaranteed jobs under the changeover. 

And they’re fears that are warranted by the fact that mining is one of the Gunnedah shire’s biggest industries, alongside agriculture. BGC insists it wants to keep jobs local, but the union fears the company could favour FIFO workers because it’s a Western Australian-based company.

If jobs aren’t offered to local residents, it will leave a huge hole in the economies of Boggabri, Gunnedah and Narrabri. 

Anyone who’s ever applied for a job knows how tough it is. 

It’s an anxious wait and often a process so dragged out that people start to look for employment elsewhere. 

We can only hope that with further consultation, current Downer employees are given every shot at re-employment in the interest of their security, as well as for the local economy.

Transparency should always win out.

Gunnedah mayor Jamie Chaffey said the extractive industry – alongside agriculture – is the backbone of the local economy.

Often they don’t go hand in hand. But it’s important we take every step we can to juggle the two industries with minimal impact. At the forefront of that juggling act is jobs. The growth of a region relies on job security. Families move to an area – and stay there – if they have job security. But with so much change, that security is at risk.

It’d be a shame if all these workers, who call Boggabri and Gunnedah and even Narrabri home, uproot and leave if they aren’t given jobs. Unfortunately, as Gunnedah Business Chamber president Mike Broekman says, it’s now a bit of a waiting game.