One of the longest-running mines in the country has shut its doors over the weekend, forcing an uncertain future on hundreds of coal workers in Queensland.

The Collinsville mine, which has been the life-blood of the town of Collinsville for almost a century, has been closed while owners Glencore take over operations from contractor Thiess. Glencore says it is looking to make a number of changes in favour of efficiency and productivity, but some workers believe they will be sold short.

Glencore says it wants to upgrade some equipment and processes and has created concern among staff with word it is looking to impose more “modern and flexible” workplace agreements.

The local Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) representative, Steve Smyth, says: “The workers are very upset, their families are upset, the communities upset as a whole... A lot of those workers see coal as their future - a lot of the workers own houses in the community... I actually think that Glencore should obviously give respect to the current workforce that has been there in its current format for 17 years.”

Miners’ futures will remain tentative, with talks to resolve the dispute not yet bearing fruit. Glencore says it is presenting a better option for miners now, saying it “offers higher annual salaries and higher superannuation than the existing Thiess agreement applying at Collinsville.”

Mr Smyth believes the stand-off will continue; “we're considering what our options are legally and also from a moral perspective,” he said.

“There's no ability to take industrial action as of August 31 - the current contract ceases... We're happy to keep talking to them about an end or an end to a potential dispute, but at this stage there's no light at the end of the tunnel... The resolution obviously is in the hands of Glencore predominantly.”