About 5,000 coal miners walked off the job at 6pm on Monday night after it was claimed the Queensland Mines Rescue Services (QMRS) Blackwater Rescue Station in central Queensland was unstaffed.

The issue has been brewing for a few weeks after Labor MP Jim Pearce raised concerns about current staffing levels at the Blackwater Station. Queensland Mines Minister Stephen Robertson met with Pearce last week, Friday, to thrash out a way forward.

At the time Robertson described the talks as "positive" and said he would progress recommendations made by Pearce in consultation with the QMRS management and the Queensland Mining Industry. This week Robertson was clearly embarrassed, expressing disappointment that the QMRS had not followed through on its promises.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) called the strike after saying it was given a commitment on Friday that the Blackwater station would be adequately manned by Monday morning, but had remained unstaffed.

The Blackwater station superintendent, Lester Anderson, was in Rockhampton having his injured knee scanned but was contactable by mobile. Several calls to the station by the CFMEU went unanswered, generating the impetus for the strike action.

Meanwhile, staff at a longwall mine in the affected area phoned around on the day preceding the strike and said the Dysart station, which is the same distance as Blackwater, was fully manned at the time. One miner said he believed the whole thing was a red herring for other union agendas.

The QMRS is a private training company fully funded and operated by the Queensland mining industry through the Queensland Mining Council.