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6 February, 2012
Coalminers represented by three Australian unions under the grouping Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) voted late last week to resume strike action against the BMA, the BHP Billiton/Mitsubishi metallurgical coal alliance that operates seven rich mines in the Bowen Basin of central Queensland.
After six days of futile bargaining between 16 and 23 January, the SBU held a series of mass meetings on 2-3 February in which workers again decidedly rejected the employer’s proposal by better than 1,600 to 2 to turn the clock to the former Howard government’s WorkChoices set of laws.
Mineworkers will soon stage a simultaneous set of seven-day strikes at dates to be decided. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Queensland District President Stephen Smyth said, “We’ll be choosing a time which has the least impact on our members and the most impact on the company.”
July Picket at Goonyella Riverside Mine
The SBU is led by the ICEM-affiliated CFMEU and also includes ICEM affiliates Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU). It represents 3,500 Bowen Basin coalminers.
The two sides have been negotiating for 15 months and a prior enterprise labour agreement expired in May 2011. SBU undertook a series of strikes throughout the second half of 2011, and BMA’s opportunity to conduct a vote among miners under the new Fair Work Australia law failed with a 92% rejection in October.
Yet, management has refused to yield on issues that would compromise work-life balance in terms of shift schedules and mine safety. This includes BMA’s refusal to provide fatigue crib breaks for miners working 12-hour shifts on consecutive nights and contract language which permits managers to permanently replace workers performing safety-critical open cut examiner and mine deputy roles.
Their proposal, said Smyth, “seeks to take mine safety out of the pit and into the office.”
The SBU is also seeking restoration of rights and pay taken from labour hire workers and sub-contractors during the WorkChoices era. “Australia has moved on from WorkChoices, but it appears BHP hasn’t,” said Smyth.
The ICEM will continue to track this critical Australian labour struggle that has become a bellwether for restoration of trade union rights under the two-and-a-half-year-old Fair Work Australia law. ICEM reports from 2011 can found here and here.