
Issue No 53		12 May 2000

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News

Shareholders Rattle Rinto Tinto Cage

By Paddy Gorman

As a shareholders revolt hit Rio Tinto's London AGM this week, the company's new chief executive claims he wants "peace" in Australia's coal industry.

In an interview broadcast throughout Australia on ABC news and current affairs programs and widely reported throughout the media today, Rio Tinto's new chief executive Leigh Clifford signaled in a media conference, following yesterday's AGM in London, that the company is now prepared to drop its hard line confrontationist approach to unions and move towards "peace" in Australia's coal industry.

Clifford's comments come as our Union, the ACTU, South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers, Britain's Trade Union Congress and the American equivalent of the ACTU, the AFL-CIO, combined to support resolutions calling for Rio Tinto to comply with minimum standards of corporate governance and to adhere to ILO principles.

While Rio Tinto's Board of Directors have recommended that the two resolutions be rejected, the giant multinational has been rattled by the support the unions have won from some of the biggest institutional investors in the company.

Rio Tinto's claim to be a good corporate citizen has business investors asking why then does the company have a problem committing to basic international labour standards?

Clifford says he is prepared to talk to unions "about moving forward".

Curiously, he describes Rio Tinto's latest change as "not the end of the war but let's win the peace".

Whether this is a genuine commitment to a change in practice or just a cynical public relations exercise designed to offset growing investors concern with the company, remains to be seen.

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  Issue 53 contents

Interview: The Fruitful Shaw
After ten years in Parliament, NSW Industrial Relations Minister Jeff Shaw looks at some mountains still to be climbed.

Politics: Budget in Reply
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley replies to the Federal budget and paints Labor's alternative vision for the future.

Economics: Petition to Move a Mountain
A child born in Zambia or Tanzania or Bolivia owes more to international creditors than she or he will ever earn in a lifetime.

International: Solidarity in a Cold Climate
After an overnight bargaining marathon, Norway's unions have secured most of their main demands and have now ended their nationwide strike.

Health: Workers Health Centre Comes of Age
In 2001, the Workers Health Centre will celebrate its 25th anniversary, making it the longest running independent trade union based health and safety service in the country.

History: A Tribute to the Fallen
A Canadian tractor operator is seeking help to produce a book on monuments to people killed in the workplace.

Satire: Ralph Web Ring Busted
Following the dismissal of 27 Telstra employees last week for downloading hardcore pornography on their work computers, Ralph magazine sacked five employees yesterday for downloading positive images of women.

Review: Waterfront - Through the Reporters' Eyes
Fairfax journalists Helen Trinca and Anne Davies have skillfully transformed the waterfront war into the sort of thriller that any self-respecting Hollywood mogul would reject for being too wild to be true.

» Costello Backs National GST Pay Claim

» Conference Call: Support the NSW Way

» Games Rail Service in Limbo

» Shaw Moves on Email Protection

» Salami Reform: Reith Chops Up the Nasties

» Advocate in Trouble Over Rural Sackings

» Unionists take to Streets for May Day 2000

» Shareholders Rattle Rinto Tinto Cage

» Joy Dispute Widens With Midnight Run

» Employers Fail to Defy History

» Indonesian Labor Educator Reports to Local Unions

» Big Drum-Up This Wednesday