Queensland’s Environment Department has begun legal action against Xstrata for discharging water into local creeks from its Ernest Henry Gold/Copper mine near Cloncurry.
The company faces further legal action over wheelings and dealings in Chile, where a rival mining company claims Xstrata backed out of a deal at great cost to its competitor.
I am the wife of a Tahmoor miner and let me say right from the start I support their fight against Xstrata one hundred per cent.
It’s a team effort and every wife and partner of each of the Tahmoor miners is behind them. It’s our fight too.
But it’s been a struggle. It’s hard not knowing from one day to the next if my husband is going to keep his job.
And it’s not just me that worries, our three kids feel it too.
It’s hot, there are flies, and we’re all sick of sausages – but morale amongst the coalminers here at Tahmoor is higher than ever.
Picket: Strength in numbers
We’ve been locked out since Monday night, but we’re determined to keep fighting until our Xstrata managers sit down with our union representatives and negotiate a fair agreement.
Our members at Tahmoor were told yesterday they would be locked out for a week from 10pm last night, in response to our ongoing protected industrial action for a fair Enterprise Agreement.
Everyone has turned up for their shifts and will continue to do so all week, manning a picket line at the mine gates.
Xstrata management are doing their best to intimidate us, with security guards blocking the gates and cameras filming our every move.
But you know what? This has just made our resolve stronger.
Plans to expand?
News Ltd media this week had Xstrata digging up half of Queensland for coal, with plans for a 100-million-tonnes-a-year thermal coal operation at Wandoan.
The story, promoted by the company’s chief development officer Jeff Gerard, has Xstrata planning 3 additional huge coal mines on top of the one currently going through approvals processes.
We’re taking it with a grain of salt – an exercise in intimidating other potential investors and maintaining market share and profits.
A case brought by the CFMEU on behalf of an injured worker at Newcastle’s Xstrata-owned West Wallsend underground coal mine has exposed chronic underpayment to injured workers.
The workplace collective agreement at West Wallsend contains the commonplace provision of ‘make-up pay’ if a worker is injured on the job, to complement workers compensation and minimize financial hardship.
I was appalled to read this week that Xstrata Coal Queensland is pressuring suppliers to cut their prices by a whopping 20% or lose their contracts.
The Courier-Mail reported that XCQ chief operating officer Reinhold Schmidt wrote to suppliers bemoaning significant cost pressures: “XCQ's corporate office has therefore mandated that all sites take immediate action to secure our future for the benefit of our suppliers, employees and shareholders.”
In other words: put your price down or else.
The people of Mudgee turned out last week to support miners sacked by Xstrata.
Underground coalminers: End of the shiftThe Ulan underground coal mine in NSW’s mid-west is gearing up for a quickfire productivity boost. Too easy – sack a quarter of the workers.
Suddenly the books look a whole lot better.
Ulan’s owner-operator Xstrata has announced 122 jobs will go. They ‘kindly’ offered voluntary redundancies – though for specialist workers at this region’s only underground mine it’s understandable that the response wasn’t overwhelming.
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.
