Read this article in:
20 June, 2011
ICEM-affiliated Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia broke through a major barrier with Rio Tinto on enterprise bargaining when it used good-faith dialogue under the Fair Work Australia law to negate Rio Tinto’s long-standing preference for individual work agreements. The breakthrough came in an “in principle” agreement achieved with the mining giant on 9 June that grants 400 iron ore train drivers and car examiners in West Australia collective bargaining rights.
The agreement is precedent-setting and it is hoped that the Anglo-Australian mining house and metals producer follows similar Fair Work law practices in its other Australian businesses and with other Australian unions. The agreement allows the 400 essential staff who moves Australia’s valuable iron ore resources to West Coast ports to vote on a collective agreement.
Gary Wood
“This is a long overdue outcome that would never have been achieved under WorkChoices, and has only been achieved because of the Fair Work Act and the determination of the rank-and-file to stand united in support of their collective rights,” said CFMEU West Australia Mining and Energy Secretary Gary Wood.
The agreement came through 18 months of bargaining with Rio Tinto under procedures of two-year-old Fair Work Australia that left the company no alternative but to acquiesce and allow workers to vote on a collective agreement. It also ends an 18-year period of hostility by Rio Tinto to remain union-free and operate under individual work agreements at Rio’s Hamersly, Pilbara Iron Ore, and other subsidiaries.
The ICEM salutes the CFMEU for this historic accomplishment on behalf of Australian unions regarding Rio Tinto, and now calls on workers in West Australia to make the most of the achievement in order to speak with a collective voice in making life-enhancing gains for all.