Issue No 103 | 20 July 2001 | |
NewsRio Outrage Heads for CourtBy Paddy Gorman
Despite being found guilty for the second time in a matter of months of victimising coal mineworkes - this time at the Hunter Valley No.1 mine - Rio Tinto has again reacted by flouting the law of the land. Rio's Hunter Valley manager last week told the local media that the company would not reinstate the 11 victimised workers it was found guilty of unfairly dismissing on 20 October 1998. In the test case on behalf of 108 victimised Hunter Valley No.1 mineworkers, that has taken over two years to decide, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission ordered the reinstatement of the 11 along with full back-pay. However, the mine's manager, Andrew Harding, told the Newcastle Herald that the company had no intention of reinstating the victimised mineworkers. Our Union has responded to this outrage by reminding Rio Tinto that it is not above the law. We are presently being briefed by our legal advisers on whether the comments constitute contempt and how the company can be prosecuted. In the meantime, as Rio Tinto contemplates a huge settlement with the 108 victimised Hunter Valley mineworkers, it is still locked in a similar case with our Union over the unfair dismissals of 86 mineworkers at its Mount Thorley mine. Rio Tinto used the same rotten system of victimisation to dismiss them as it used at Hunter Valley No.1. The following is an extract from a letter to General Secretary Bruce Watson from a victimised Hunter Valley No.1 miner: "I have just received news of our win in the unfair dismissal case. I don't know whether to laugh or cry given the emotional strain this has put on all involved over the last few years. I can finally hold my head up in the community again. It is worth noting the support we were given by our families and the Union during the long running battle against what can only be described as a weeping festering cancer known as Rio Tinto". Victimised Blair Athol Miners Demand Jobs Back Meanwhile, The 16 Blair Athol coal mineworkers found to have been victimised by Rio Tinto have demanded their jobs back as the company continues to drag the saga through the courts with an appeal against the Commission's order that they be reinstated with full backpay to July 1998. Although Rio Tinto must continue to pay the victimised mineworkers while the appeal is before the Court, they point out that the company hasn't a leg to stand on following the Hunter Valley decision that establishes a clear pattern of victimisation. Blair Athol CFMEU Lodge President Garry Barnes told the local media that Rio Tinto "is paying contractors to do the work we should be doing. Our families have suffered enough. Rio Tinto should end this persecution and settle with all workers it has victimised", said Garry Barnes.
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Interview: Political Witch Hunt CFMEU national secretary John Sutton on the mooted Royal Commission and what is really needed to clean up the building industry E-Change: 1.3 The Nation State in Crisis In the latest instalment in their study on the new politics, Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel looks at the rise and fall of the institutional State. Unions: Industrial Violence Rowan Cahill agrees with Tony Abbott that thuggery and violence are part of Australian industrial relations landscape - but it's the bosses who do most of the bashing. History: Total Recoil Neal Towart looks at how Royal Commissions designed to kick unions have typically come back to haunt their architects. International: Behind the Eight Ball Jubilee Australia's Thea Ormond looks at the international activity being generated around this week's Group of Eight Summit in Genoa Politics: Now We The People A new group believes there is an alternative to corporate gobalism and economic rationalism Satire: Marsden Now to Sue Himself Sydney solicitor John Marsden is suing himself for defamation, claiming the recent libel case he brought did irreparable damage to his reputation. Review: In The House Resident Four-Eyes Mark Morey attempts the impossible with this attempt at a serious analysis of Big Brother.
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