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Exclusive Caterpillar dealer in Queensland, Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea, Hastings Deering, recently unsettled union officials with a new enterprise agreement which included a 25% pay cut for some workers.

QRC CEO Michael Roche told the ABC that pay cuts would save jobs and he was expecting contracting companies in the coal industry to follow this lead.

"I think we will see more examples of that over the next six to 12 months," he told the ABC.

"It's tough to take a pay cut but people are opting for taking home an attractive wage rather than no wage at all.”