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Management - Labor Relations
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Risk Management Labor Relations [Abstract]  
Management - Labor Relations
Management — Labor Relations
On December 31, 2016, the Company had approximately 6,700 employees worldwide, including approximately 5,100 hourly employees; the employee amounts exclude employees that were employed at operations classified as discontinued operations. Approximately 39% of those hourly employees were represented by organized labor unions and were employed by mines that generated 22% of the Company's 2016 coal production from continuing operations.  In the U.S., one surface mine is represented by an organized labor union. In Australia, the coal mining industry is unionized and the majority of hourly workers employed at the Company’s Australian Mining operations are members of trade unions. The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union generally represents the Company’s Australian subsidiaries’ hourly production and engineering employees, including those employed through contract mining relationships. The Company believes labor relations with its employees are good. Should that condition change, the Company could experience labor disputes, work stoppages or other disruptions in production that could negatively impact the Company’s results of operations and cash flows.
The following table presents the Company's active mining operations as of December 31, 2016 in which the employees are represented by organized labor unions:
Mine
 
Current Agreement Expiration Date
 
 
 
U. S.
 
 
Kayenta (1)
 
September 2019
 
 
 
Australia
 
 
Owner-operated mines:
 
 
Wambo Open-Cut
 
December 2018
Wambo Underground (2)
 
April 2017
North Goonyella
 
December 2018
Metropolitan (3)
 
December 2016
Millennium (4)
 
October 2015
Wilpinjong (5)
 
May 2016
Coppabella (6)
 
December 2016
Moorvale (6)
 
October 2019

(1)
Hourly workers at the Company’s Kayenta Mine in Arizona are represented by the UMWA under the Western Surface Agreement, which is effective through September 16, 2019. This agreement covers approximately 8% of the Company’s U.S. subsidiaries’ hourly employees, who generated approximately 4% of the Company’s U.S. production during the year ended December 31, 2016.
(2)
Employees of the Company's Wambo Underground Mine operate under a separate labor agreement. That agreement expired in April 2015. The parties agreed to an initial rollover for 12 months through April 2016 and agreed to a further rollover for another 12 months through April 2017. There were no wage increases for the two rollover periods and there have been no disruptions to the operation of the site as a result of the expiration of the agreement. Hourly employees of this mine comprise approximately 8% of the Company's Australian subsidiaries hourly employees, who generated approximately 10% of the Company's Australian production during the year ended December 31, 2016.
(3) 
Employees of the Company's Metropolitan mine operate under a separate labor agreement, which expired in September 2015. Negotiations progressed to a vote on the Company’s best offer in November 2015, which was rejected by the employees. The parties agreed to hold off on any further negotiations until the Company's emergence from the Chapter 11 Cases, expected to occur in early April 2017. There were no wage increases during this period and there have been no disruptions to the operation of the site as a result of the expiration of the agreement. There is also a Deputy labor agreement which expired in September 2015. The parties agreed to a rollover for 18 months through to December 2016. Negotiations resumed in January 2017 for a new labor agreement. There have been no disruptions to the operations of the site as a result of the expiration of the agreement. Hourly employees of this mine comprise approximately 11% of the Company's Australian subsidiaries hourly employees, who generated approximately 6% of the Company's Australian production during the year ended December 31, 2016.
(4) 
Employees of the Company's Millennium mine operate under a separate labor agreement. Negotiations have been ongoing for an extended period of time, where employees rejected the Company's offers in July 2016 and again in November 2016. After the second unsuccessful vote the Company informed employees it was in the process of applying for the agreement to be terminated.  Employees requested the Company to vote again on the second rejected agreement with the intent to accept the offer,  70% of employees voted and accepted the offer late January 2017. The agreement was approved by the Fair Work Commission in early March 2017. Hourly employees of this mine comprise approximately 16% of the Company's Australian subsidiaries hourly employees, who generated approximately 11% of the Company's Australian production during the year ended December 31, 2016.
(5) 
Employees of the Company's Wilpinjong Mine operate under an enterprise agreement. Negotiations to replace the enterprise agreement that nominally expired in May 2016 commenced in April 2016.  In January 2017 the workforce formally rejected Wilpinjong’s proposed replacement agreement and good faith negotiations are now continuing. Hourly employees of this mine comprise approximately 18% of the Company's Australian subsidiaries hourly employees, who generated approximately 42% of the Company's Australian production during the year ended December 31, 2016.
(6) 
Employees of the Company's Coppabella/Moorvale Coal Handling and Preparation Plant facility previously operated under a separate enterprise agreement. As a result of the latest negotiation process the Company was successful in its application to terminate the agreement. The negotiations resulted in the Coppabella employees requesting to be employed on individual salaried contracts (rather than a labor agreement) and the Moorvale employees accepted the Company's final offer. The Moorevale agreement expires in October 2019. Hourly employees of this mine comprise approximately 28% of the Company's Australian subsidiaries hourly employees, who generated approximately 13% of the Company's Australian production during the year ended December 31, 2016.