By Alex Bainbridge
HUNTER VALLEY — On June 27, the 17th day of their strike, workers at the Coal & Allied (C&A) Hunter Valley No. 1 coal mine again voted unanimously to continue their strike.
The action comes after two years of negotiations for an enterprise agreement that have been continually frustrated by the company. These workers are the only coal miners in the district without an agreement.
Since February, the company has been attempting to sign workers to individual contracts while continuing to stall negotiations.
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union spokesperson Mick Kelly told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that this was the "beginnings of attempts to de-unionise the biggest producing coal mine in the state". C&A is owned by the union-busting transnational Rio Tinto (formerly CRA).
So far, seven workers have left their union to sign individual contracts, and 10 staff members have left the Colliery Staff Association, according to the June 26 Newcastle Herald. CSA members have been refusing to do the work of striking miners.
Workers on the picket line appreciate the enormity of the task in front of them. Since Rio Tinto took over C&A, workers have experienced the aggressive management tactics associated with CRA, including the stalling on negotiations.
Since the strike began, the company has taken the union to the Industrial Relations Commission in an attempt to end the official bargaining period. This would have ended legal protection for the pickets had it been successful.
Workers we spoke to on the picket line were also familiar with other union struggles against CRA such as at Weipa in 1995 and at the Vickery coal mine last year. "They even started a war in Bougainville!", one of the strikers remarked.
The company explicitly states that Howard's new Workplace Relations Act gives it the freedom to make this push for individual contracts. Mine manager Allan Davies is reported to have said that the union needs to "learn to coexist" with individually contracted workers.
The union has agreed to end the strike when management agrees to negotiate in good faith and stop signing individual contracts.
Davies is refusing to negotiate with the union while the strike continues. However, after two years of stalling, workers don't hold much hope of meaningful negotiations without a struggle.
The company has been distributing misleading and dishonest propaganda to employees and the community. One example is the company's inflaming (ably supported by the Newcastle Herald) of an incident on June 21 in Scone — 45 minutes' drive from the mine. One of the scabs has taken out a restraining order against one of the strikers in response to alleged verbal abuse.
Previously, the scab had made provocative comments to strikers on the picket line. The union will be defending its member and expects the case to be thrown out of court.
Seven picket lines have been set up around the sprawling mine site. Strikers are being paid a subsidy funded by contributions from other miners. All of the picket lines are well established and resourced. Miners from other areas, including Vickery, have already started to show their support.