The 200 Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU) members mounted a 48-hour strike over the weekend after pay talks stalled last week.

The ABC News quoted CFMEU district vice president Ian Murray as saying members were seeking a 12% pay rise as part of a new enterprise agreement.

Murray added the company had not granted any increases for the past three years, but according to David Moult, chief operating officer at Centennial, this was simply not true.

Moult said under the enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) of the last three years, Mandalong workers had received in excess of a 3% pay increase year-on-year.

In addition, he said, Centennial introduced a new bonus scheme this year when longwall mining started up, delivering substantial increases in bonus payments.

Centennial is offering a 3% pay increase in the current round of talks, and if the CFMEU accepts some modifications to the EBA, a further 1% superannuation contribution is on the table.

“The 4% (equivalent) we now have on the table is in effect more than we have achieved in returns from Mandalong, which produces coal wholly for the domestic market. So we have not been able to benefit from high export prices,” Moult said.

“We only achieved an increase in-line with CPI in the selling price of Mandalong coal, which means our costs have gone up relative to our revenue.”

Moult expects confirmation later today on the union’s plans for further action.