The Mining and Energy Union has slammed Sanjeev Gupta's latest attempt to justify months of unpaid bills at Tahmoor Colliery as "a slap in the face to every worker at Tahmoor and every family that's carried the cost of his chaos."
MEU South Western District President Bob Timbs said Gupta's reply to the union's letter of concern, blaming the Diwali holidays for the long string of missed payments to contractor RStar, shows just how delusional and unfit to hold the mine lease he is.
"Diwali has been celebrated for thousands of years. It's not a new public holiday that caught him by surprise," said Mr Timbs.
"This isn't one missed payment. It's months and months of empty promises and excuses while pushing local businesses and families to the edge."
Timbs said Gupta's excuse letter was full of corporate spin while real people are left footing the bill.
"Your letter talks about 'staged drawdowns' and 'tranches'. The people you're stringing along talk about groceries, rent and bills. They don't need jargon, they need their pay."
"If this letter was a photocopy it would be so faded it would be blank. That's how many of the same hollow promises Gupta has made about Tahmoor."
"Workers are sick of being treated like idiots. RStar and its workforce have done everything right. It's time for Gupta to get out of Tahmoor."
The MEU has invited Gupta to meet with the Union next week in Sydney to explain in person how and when he plans to make good on his commitments, not with more promises but with cash.
