
Issue No 86		02 March 2001

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News

Seven-day Strike at Five BHP Mines

By Paddy Gorman

More than 1,500 coal workers from five BHP Central Queensland mines walked off the job for seven from first shift on Wednesday as last ditch conciliation talks on new enterprise agreements broke down in Brisbane.

Picket Lines have been set up at Peak Downs, Saraji, Norwich Park, Crinum and Gregory mines despite threats of legal action by BHP.

The 7-day strike follows the scuttling of agreement negotiations with BHP issuing a hard line take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum. Our Union's General President Tony Maher said there is still room to negotiate a settlement "but BHP has got to drop its narrow ideological dictates and accept that the workers have a right to important issues like job security".

Queensland District President Andrew Vickers confirmed that the differences were not about money. "Our members want job security. In the past few years we have made considerable concessions at BHP operations in recognition of the difficult market conditions and the decline in coal prices. Now the pendulum has swung.

"BHP is reaping a bonanza with record coal profits and coal export prices have risen dramatically this year. All we want now is a fair share of the prosperity we have helped create. We want security of employment conditions restored and preference of employment for retrenched mineworkers", he said.

BHP Closes 'Viable' Cordeaux

Meanwhile, despite the recent coal price increases rendering the Cordeaux mine in the NSW South-West viable, BHP has gone ahead with the closure of the underground mine, giving the workforce four weeks notice from today.

District President Howie Fisher has condemned the company's callousness in throwing another 40 workers onto the industrial scrapheap. "There is no reason that this mine should close other than BHP's insatiable greed", he said.

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  Issue 86 contents

Interview: Master of Opposition
Over the past five years, John Faulkner has turned the Senates Estimates structure into his own House of Pain. He explains the art of Opposition.

Politics: Beazley the Bridge Builder?
As the Howard Government flounders, Brett Evans looks at the challenges Kim Beazley faces as his hour of destiny approaches.

Unions: Lashing & Loathing at Patricks
Three years since one of the Howard Government�s most infamous episodes, the Waterfront War, Zoe Reynolds discovers how casuals are now doing the doing the dirty work on the docks.

Legal: Workers Without Rights
Mark Morey outlines the legal status and (lack of) rights for foreigners in Australia on working visas.

International: Dispatch from the Dispossessed
Mahendra Chaudhry, Leader of the People's Coalition and the Fiji Labour Party comments on this week�s court decision.

Economics: Business Power and Mobility
The US election season makes it patently clear how Big Business is able to transform its financial resources into political power via campaigncontributions.

History: The Spoilers and the Split
The Movement, Groupers, the DLP and The Doc. All have been blamed in various ways for the ALP split in the 1950s, ensuring the ALP was kept out of federal government until 1972. Can One Nation return the favour?

Review: The New Hard Politics
Dennis Glover argues that policy has taken over from spin as the political battleground of the new century.

Satire: Bradman Latest: Family In Dramatic Court Action
The family of the late Sir Donald Bradman yesterday sought a restraining order against Prime Minister John Howard after it became apparent that he wants to be involved in every single detail of the The Don's funeral.

» StoneTemple Pirate Outrage Hits Canberra

» Five Star Exploitation at Regent

» Workers Say: We Deserve Better

» Carr Called on Ten Year Temps

» National Textiles Workers Struggling 12 Months On

» MUA Prosecutes Patrick for Crippling Workers

» Test Case: Is Redundancy a Universal Right?

» Who Pays for the Public Works?

» Seven-day Strike at Five BHP Mines

» Chubb Cuts Place Security Guards at Risk

» Vic Employers Support New IR Laws

» Lock-Out Tactics Poison Neighbourhood

» Shangri-La: Lawyers Take Over from Thugs

» Daewoo Workers See The Ugly Face Of Globalisation

» Labour Wings to Meet in Macquarie Street

» Costa Kisses the Rings

» Meat Workers Dropped from the Queue for Q Fever Vaccine

» Activists Notebook