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Issue No. 170 | 14 March 2003 |
Coke or Pepsi?
Poetry: If I Were a Rich Man Interview: League of Nations Industrial: 20/20 Hindsight Organising: On The Buses Unions: National Focus History: The Banner Room International: The Slaughter Continues Legal: A Legal Case For War? Culture: Singing For The People Review: The Hours Poetry: I Wanna Bomb Saddam Satire: Diuretic Makes Warne's Excuses Look Thin
Travelex Wrong-un Stumps Staff No Utopia In Lifetime Contracts Howard�s Navy � Aussies Need Not Apply Intrepid Tourists Buck ILO Bans Whistle Blown on Second Hand Rail Safety Back-Packers Used to Break Hotel Strike Burrow Calls for New Family Formula Central Queensland Sucks on Roche
The Soapbox The Locker Room Guest Report Seduction Bosswatch
A Plea for Legal Action Accord Reconsidered Johnny's Green Card Veto The War Law and Order
Labor Council of NSW |
News Central Queensland Sucks on Roche
CFMEU activists will take that message to North Queensland Cowboys footy fans as part of their escalating campaign to force Roche into meeting industry standards on wages, conditions and safety in towns like Coppabella, Central Queensland. The company has won mining contracts in the Hunter Valley and outback Queensland on the back of its stragegy of substantially undercutting entitlements enjoyed by miners. Three months of campaigning has resulted in Hunter Valley contractors signing up with the CFMEU Energy Division and the union is now shifting its organising focus to Coppabella where, it says, the situation is even worse. "Their operation is classic boom and bust except for the fact that there is no boom for towns like Coppabella," CFMEU organiser Troy Burton says. "They undercut competitors on wages and conditions then bus in contractors from outside, putting them up in old-style camps, rather than have them live in the local community. "The upshot for these towns, already struggling for survival, is an increased threat to their services. Roche moves in, strips the local resources and moves on. "We are looking at substantially increased hours, and donga-style accommodation. There is no room in the Roche equation for families or the commitment to a town that they would normally bring." Roche is aggressively promoting individual contracts as a mechanism to defeat existing wages and conditions. A key element of its strategy is to bus-in and bus-out an itinerant workforce. It has signed a 15-year contract to operate the Coppabella Mine. Burton said unionists were buoyed by the success of their Hunter Valley organising campaign and pleged active resistance to Roche's stragey wherever it set up operations. "We will follow them wherever they go," he pledged.
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