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14 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 10/2004
J ustice has finally arrived for a group of mineworkers in Australia-but more than five-and-a-half years late.
Four of 16 miners at three Rio Tinto coal mines in Central Queensland who were sacked 21 July 1998 will walk back to their jobs Monday at the Blair Athol mine. The miners are members of ICEM affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia, and the union will mark their return with a Guard of Honour at the workplace entrance.
The four were part of 16 staunch trade unionists sacked by Rio Tinto subsidiary Pacific Coal in 1998. The miners were discharged after the company conducted one-sided "performance reviews" that effectively placed them on a black list in the mining areas of Queensland.
Two others will be reinstated by Rio Tinto at its nearby Hail Creek mine on 8 March. The fate of ten others is still in the hands of Rio Tinto. After some three years of legal wrangling, the Full Bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission ruled last year that the 16 were unfairly dismissed and must be given re-employment preference by Rio Tinto.
Although the company is appealing that ruling, it has complied with reinstatement of the six.
"Rio Tinto should go the whole hog and get them all back on the job," said the Miners Union General President Tony Maher. "These men and their families have suffered more than enough. It's time Rio did the right thing and get them all back on the job so their families can finally rebuild their lives and look to the future with the confidence they deserve."
"Hopefully, this puts closure to one of the sorriest chapters in mining labour relations the world over," said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. "The ICEM now calls on Rio Tinto to put this whole dispute behind and recall the remaining the ten workers."
Four of 16 miners at three Rio Tinto coal mines in Central Queensland who were sacked 21 July 1998 will walk back to their jobs Monday at the Blair Athol mine. The miners are members of ICEM affiliate Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia, and the union will mark their return with a Guard of Honour at the workplace entrance.
The four were part of 16 staunch trade unionists sacked by Rio Tinto subsidiary Pacific Coal in 1998. The miners were discharged after the company conducted one-sided "performance reviews" that effectively placed them on a black list in the mining areas of Queensland.
Two others will be reinstated by Rio Tinto at its nearby Hail Creek mine on 8 March. The fate of ten others is still in the hands of Rio Tinto. After some three years of legal wrangling, the Full Bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission ruled last year that the 16 were unfairly dismissed and must be given re-employment preference by Rio Tinto.
Although the company is appealing that ruling, it has complied with reinstatement of the six.
"Rio Tinto should go the whole hog and get them all back on the job," said the Miners Union General President Tony Maher. "These men and their families have suffered more than enough. It's time Rio did the right thing and get them all back on the job so their families can finally rebuild their lives and look to the future with the confidence they deserve."
"Hopefully, this puts closure to one of the sorriest chapters in mining labour relations the world over," said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. "The ICEM now calls on Rio Tinto to put this whole dispute behind and recall the remaining the ten workers."