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23 August, 2005ICEM News Release No. 39/1999
Australian miners' union the CFMEU today called on Rio Tinto, the world's biggest mining company, to reinstate illegally sacked workers at the company's Gordonstone mine.
The miners were fired by the previous owners of the mine, Arco, but when Rio Tinto bought Gordonstone, it opted to restart operations there with a group of hand-picked employees on a non-union contract.
The union's renewed call to the company follows a strange ruling today by the Australian Federal Court. The court found that it does not have the power to overturn a decision of the Full Bench of the Industrial Relations Commission, even though the Commission had erred in law. The CFMEU is now considering its legal options.
The union had appealed to the Federal Court to uphold a ruling by Commissioner Hodder last year that the illegally sacked Gordonstone mineworkers should have preference of employment when the mine reopened. The company appealed against Commissioner Hodder's decision before a Full Bench of the Commission, which upheld the appeal by a 2-1 majority. The Federal Court ruled today that the Full Bench of the Commission had erred in law in quashing Commissioner Hodder's decision. However, the Federal Court said that under Australia's Workplace Relations Act, it did not have the power to quash the Full Bench of the Commission's decision.
The Federal Court also ruled that the Commission was wrong when it registered a non-union Certified Agreement involving secretly recruited employees hired by a Rio Tinto $2 shelf company. The Court ruled that this Certified Agreement was void because it was registered before the business was operational.
CFMEU Mining and Energy Division General President Tony Maher welcomed the Court's quashing of the Gordonstone non-union agreement.
While the CFMEU had won the case "hands down" in the Federal Court, Maher said, the illegally sacked Gordonstone miners were robbed of justice by the combined effects of a legal technicality and two serious legal errors of the Industrial Commission. The Federal Court ruled that the Full Bench of the Industrial Commission got it wrong when they quashed Commissioner Hodder's decision and they got it wrong again when they allowed Rio Tinto's $2 shelf company to register a Certified Agreement.
"What sort of a system is it when workers are recognised as right in law and yet are allowed to become the victims?" Maher asked. "We will be examining all our options and will be consulting the labour movement as this decision has implications for all workers."
He called on Rio Tinto to cease victimising the sacked workers and to employ them.
At the global level, the CFMEU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which is part of a broad international alliance of organisations campaigning for big improvements in Rio Tinto's environmental performance and in its respect for human rights, including trade union rights and the rights of indigenous peoples.
The miners were fired by the previous owners of the mine, Arco, but when Rio Tinto bought Gordonstone, it opted to restart operations there with a group of hand-picked employees on a non-union contract.
The union's renewed call to the company follows a strange ruling today by the Australian Federal Court. The court found that it does not have the power to overturn a decision of the Full Bench of the Industrial Relations Commission, even though the Commission had erred in law. The CFMEU is now considering its legal options.
The union had appealed to the Federal Court to uphold a ruling by Commissioner Hodder last year that the illegally sacked Gordonstone mineworkers should have preference of employment when the mine reopened. The company appealed against Commissioner Hodder's decision before a Full Bench of the Commission, which upheld the appeal by a 2-1 majority. The Federal Court ruled today that the Full Bench of the Commission had erred in law in quashing Commissioner Hodder's decision. However, the Federal Court said that under Australia's Workplace Relations Act, it did not have the power to quash the Full Bench of the Commission's decision.
The Federal Court also ruled that the Commission was wrong when it registered a non-union Certified Agreement involving secretly recruited employees hired by a Rio Tinto $2 shelf company. The Court ruled that this Certified Agreement was void because it was registered before the business was operational.
CFMEU Mining and Energy Division General President Tony Maher welcomed the Court's quashing of the Gordonstone non-union agreement.
While the CFMEU had won the case "hands down" in the Federal Court, Maher said, the illegally sacked Gordonstone miners were robbed of justice by the combined effects of a legal technicality and two serious legal errors of the Industrial Commission. The Federal Court ruled that the Full Bench of the Industrial Commission got it wrong when they quashed Commissioner Hodder's decision and they got it wrong again when they allowed Rio Tinto's $2 shelf company to register a Certified Agreement.
"What sort of a system is it when workers are recognised as right in law and yet are allowed to become the victims?" Maher asked. "We will be examining all our options and will be consulting the labour movement as this decision has implications for all workers."
He called on Rio Tinto to cease victimising the sacked workers and to employ them.
At the global level, the CFMEU is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which is part of a broad international alliance of organisations campaigning for big improvements in Rio Tinto's environmental performance and in its respect for human rights, including trade union rights and the rights of indigenous peoples.