Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union acting general secretary Andrew Vickers said negotiations with employer representatives in Sydney this week had gone well.

“We hope in the very near future to have a proposed agreement for members’ consideration that will protect and enhance the operation of our portable, industry-based scheme,” he said.

CFMEU said the negotiations were part of a drawn-out process to protect the industry’s long-service leave scheme, which was originally targeted for attack by the previous Howard government.

The union was also aiming “to ensure it did not fall through the cracks of Labor’s new industrial relations system”

“Enshrining the scheme in federal legislation will make the provisions legally binding on all employers operating in the coal mining industry,” Vickers said.

“Our union is working to ensure that we are in a position to seek federal government approval and laws introduced by the beginning of 2010."