The David and Goliath battle against Xstrata continues, with the rich, Swiss-based multi-national trying to control the working conditions of Australian coalminers.
But it’s not just our members working lives they want to control. When you control working conditions you control miners lives, their home and families, and then Xstrata ends up controlling whole communities.
I’m pleased to report Fair Work Australia yesterday approved our application for protected industrial action by members at the Xstrata-owned Bulga mine in the Hunter Valley.
We’ll be holding the ballot Monday and Tuesday, then holding lodge meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to decide what action to take.
Down here at Tahmoor, we challenge mine owners Xstrata to be honest about why they’re going so hard after the job security protections in our agreement – like seniority, return to work and manning levels.
We are all deeply concerned at the prospect operations at Tahmoor will be contracted out.
When we saw this article the Illawarra Mercury last week, alarm bells rang.
What the?: UGM Managers standing on the stockpile at Tahmoor.
We are concerned about Xstrata’s impact on our work rights, our mining communities and our environment.
By sharing information, we aim to pressure Xstrata into acting fairly and ethically.
Xstratafacts is an initiative of the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division, the union for Australian miners.
This site is not run by Xstrata plc and does not reflect the views of the company. If you are looking for the Xstrata company web site go to www.xstrata.com.
