Striking miners at the Favona Decline Mine at Waihi have settled their dispute with employer HWE Mining and agreed on an 11.6 per cent pay rise.
The settlement follows a period of strike action at the Favona Decline mine. It was ratified after mediation between the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union and the company in Tauranga with the Department of Labour.

The Favona mine. Picture from Julian Apse - supplied by Crown Minerals Ministry of Economic Development.

The settlement affects 55 miners. It is backdated to May 8 and includes pay increases of 4 per cent in 2010, 4 per cent in 2011 and 3.5 per cent in 2012. EPMU members also receive an upfront payment of up to $750 based on length of service, and an increase in redundancy compensation benefits from the current maximum payment of six weeks' pay to nine weeks' pay in 2012.
"A pay rise of approximately 4 per cent per year over the next three years is well above the current national average annual pay rise of 1.6 per cent," says EPMU national secretary Andrew Little.
"This is a good outcome for EPMU members, highlighting the clear financial benefits of belonging to a union collective agreement."
"A pay rise of 11.6 per cent over three years along with an upfront payment for union members is welcome at a time when prices are rising and the government is hiking GST, both of which hit workers' pay packets."
The EPMU represents 1200 workers in gold and coal mining in New Zealand.
The Favona underground mine is about 2km from the Martha pit mine.