The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said the 20-month agreement also included better pay for workers involved in workplace accidents and better procedures to deal with workplace disputes.

CFMEU southwestern district vice president Bob Timbs especially thanked the Helensburgh community for its support of the workers’ protest lines during the mine lock-out last month.

“Peabody initially tried to institute a pay freeze for the life of the agreement, which would leave

Helensburgh workers behind CPI [Consumer Price Index-measured inflation] and make them the lowest paid mine operators in the region,” Timbs said.

“Members at Helensburgh had fought and won their workplace conditions for more than a decade and were not prepared to let their agreement fall behind every other mine worker in the Illawarra.

“Our Helensburgh members were also aware that major mining companies across the region were keeping a close eye on what was happening at Helensburgh.

“They weren’t just fighting for their own conditions but ensuring Peabody was not able to lower the bar across the Illawarra.

“Throughout negotiations Helensburgh members showed they were prepared to make concessions to ensure Peabody’s operations are viable into the future – this included being willing to tie pay raises with production.

“But Helensburgh members who have helped Peabody earn large profits at the height of the investment cycle were not prepared to accept slashing their pay and conditions to appease expectations from shareholders addicted to a sky-high coal price.”

The CFMEU’s “hard-fought” campaign included work stoppages of up to seven days, plus longwall and road development output limitations and bans on using diesel-powered vehicles underground.

A Peabody spokeswoman told ILN the wage increases consisted of 2% for the first year and 2.5% for the second year of the agreement.

She expects the final vote for the EA to be made in the next two weeks.

“Peabody Energy and the CFMEU have reached an in-principle agreement on the matters outstanding in the Helensburgh coal enterprise agreement,” Peabody said.

“The proposed enterprise agreement is subject to a successful vote by the mine’s workforce in the coming weeks.

“Peabody is looking forward to the return of the workforce so that we can all share in its future success.”