Stracon negotiations underway

Negotiations for the first ever collective at Stracon mining are underway with thirty of the gold mining company's fifty staff now unionised.

The company is currently contracted to work out of the Globe mine which is just east of Reefton.

EPMU West Coast organiser Matt Winter says negotiations for the new collective are going smoothly. "There were some of the usual issues that come when you deal with a company and a membership that have never dealt with collective bargaining but its coming together now."

"The main thing now is making sure our members get a fair deal," says Winter, "and we'll be pushing on rostering, the rates and the term of the document."

Stracon also operates in South America.