Pilbara truckies claim lucrative relocation bonuses unpaid as miner winds back COVID incentives

Pilbara truck drivers say they are being left high and dry as they continue to wait for multiple incentives promised to them by their respective companies to be paid. The alleged owed incentives funded by Mineral Resources include $10,000 payments for relocation as well as further payments of $10,000 if drivers stayed in their jobs for longer than six months, and $2500 incentives for referring other drivers. A Mineral Resources spokesperson said these support payments were paid by Mineral Resources to the contracting companies to help them secure the required workforce. “Mineral Resources has honoured and continues to honour all of its commitments to its fleet of contractors, many of which have provided services to Mineral Resources for more than 10 years,” they said. But many truck drivers say they are still chasing their payments. A driver who requested they remain anonymous said they began working in January and had “been constantly hand-balled around from person to person” when they asked where their money is. “People have relocated, they’ve stayed and nothing has been paid,” the driver said. “It’s such a transient industry with a high turnover, they got all of these people here with the promise of tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses and they haven’t followed through.” The driver said there were some drivers were considering industrial action over the issue. “Throughout the last week or so, there have been rumours amongst drivers of setting a date to stop work and strike in the hope that action will be taken on the issue,” the driver said. Another driver who also requested their identity remain private said they “lost hope” of ever being paid what they were promised and had since left the Pilbara. “I brought it up a few times and the usual answer was that they were trying to work it out with Mineral Resources, then one day they just turned around and said the offer never existed (in the) first place, which was just bizarre,” the driver said. “I had to let it go, I figured it was never going to happen.” The North West Telegraph contacted several contractors, with most declining to comment. One contractor said they had received payment from Mineral Resources and had paid their drivers the promised amounts. A third truck driver who was also working in the Pilbara at the time the incentives were offered said they “saw through” the promises from the beginning. “I knew it was bulls..., these companies will tell you whatever you want to hear if they think it will make you stay,” the driver said. “I would stir them up and ask them where my money was from time to time, just to see what they’d say, I knew it was never coming.” Mineral Resources said at the height of the border closures sparked by COVID-19 last year, the company introduced support payments for its contractors to recognise the difficulty faced attracting and retaining workers in regional Western Australia. A spokesperson said the company had begun winding back the support payments. “As the Pilbara industry has adjusted to operating in a COVID-19 environment with increasing inter-State and intrastate movements and higher vaccination rates, the level of support payments offered by Mineral Resources has gradually reduced to reflect the improved access to workers,” the spokesperson said.