Fortescue Metals Group has sacked workers at its Cloudbreak mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region - it just won't say how many.
It's understood the workers are truck drivers, and jobs have also been cut at the mining giant's Christmas Creek mine.
Some of the employees arrived on site on Wednesday only to be told to return to Perth.
Cloudbreak worker Brad Mitchell said he and his colleagues were not warned of the job cuts.
"They go on about ... how they're such a family company. That's not a way to treat a family, especially me with a two-year-old son, a newborn baby and a wife," Mr Mitchell told 6PR.
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"Now I've got no job."
Fortescue flagged roster changes earlier this month, saying it would trim costs while it struggled with low iron ore prices.
On Wednesday the miner said it had communicated with its workforce "consistently since the decision was announced two weeks ago".
"The roster change decision has been a very difficult one for all of us but unfortunately was beyond our control," Fortescue said in a statement.
The company also left the door open to more cuts in the future.
"We are working through changes to our organisational structure across our sites," Fortescue said.
"As part of this process, all opportunities for internal transfers are being fully explored."
