Hunter Valley miners' victory: Rio Tinto dragged kicking and screaming to arbitration The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, May 19th, 1999. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** By Peter Mac After a series of protracted court hearings lasting almost two years, mining giant Rio Tinto (Australia) has at last been forced to accept arbitration on the long-running Hunter Valley No. 1 Coal Mine dispute, over the mineworkers' attempt to gain an enterprise agreement rather than individual contracts. The Australian High Court last Wednesday ruled that arbitration should take place, in accordance with the November 1997 decision of Justice Boulton. The case preceded the MUA dispute, and was similar in that it was in effect a "test run" for the Federal Government industrial relations policy. The case has also become a test of the continuing activity of the Industrial Relations Commission. Under Industrial Relations Minister Peter Reith's "second wave" of industrial legislation, the Howard Government has now foreshadowed the severe restriction of the role of the Commission, amounting to an emasculation of its power and foreshadowing its possible privatisation. Compulsory arbitration has already been restricted to "allowable award matters" (safety net) and certain "exceptional `non- allowable' matters in which it would be harsh or unjust not to make an order". The importance of the Rio Tinto case can be judged by the legal steps taken by the company throughout the dispute, with the full backing and attempted intervention of the Federal Government. The dispute arose in 1997, after the mineworkers failed to gain an enterprise agreement from the company which refused to seriously negotiate on the matter. The workers finally set up a picket line at the mine entry, and after a bitter and dramatic dispute, Justice Boulton of the Industrial Relations Commission ruled that the matter should be resolved by arbitration. The Company then appealed successfully before the full bench of the Commission to have Justice Boulton's ruling overturned. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Engineering Union (CFMEU) appealed against this decision on behalf of the miners, to the Federal Court. The Howard Government then attempted unsuccessfully to intervene in the hearing, and later twice called in the Australian Electoral Commission to conduct secret ballots on a company agreement. The employees overwhelmingly rejected the agreement on both occasions. Throughout this period the Company subjected employees to a systematic campaign of provocation and harassment, changed work practices despite a Commission ruling to the contrary, sacked 115 workers, while continuing to pressure individual employees to accept individual contracts or a totally unacceptable "non- negotiable" company agreement. The Federal Court subsequently ruled in the Union's favour and directed that a new full bench of the Industrial Relations Commission should rule again, after considering the issue in accordance with law. Last Wednesday the Commission ruled that Justice Bolton's 1997 decision should stand and that he should arbitrate on the matter. CFMEU Mining and Energy Division General President Tony Maher commented that: "It is about time that this issue was settled. Rio Tinto and the Federal Government have done everything to frustrate the wishes of the employees at the mine and put them and their families through enormous unnecessary grief. "We are looking forward to arbitration and seeing that the Hunter Valley No.1 miners at last get a fair go." The Guardian 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. 2010 Australia. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Website: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
