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Strike spreads over Comalco writs at Weipa14 November 1995
By Bill Mason BRISBANE -- National strike action looms in the mining industry as Comalco took out legal writs against striking workers at the company's Weipa bauxite operation on November 11. Seventy-five award workers at Weipa have been on strike for three weeks over wage rises for award workers. They have maintained a blockade of small boats which has prevented the ore being loaded onto ships at Weipa harbor. The strikers have been denied pay rises of up to $20,000 for refusing to sign non-union contracts. More than 300 workers at Weipa have been pressured into signing the contracts. The strikers say they will return to work if Comalco, which is owned by CRA, allows the award as a safety net and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to arbitrate on disputes. On November 10 the IRC issued certificates allowing Comalco to take common-law action against the strikers and their unions. The company has now filed a writ in the Queensland Supreme Court, seeking an injunction to prevent interference with ships and a road bridge at Weipa. Comalco's legal action is seeking to recover millions of dollars in damages from metals union state secretary Dave Harrison, 48 individual strikers and three unions. The action seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract; nuisance; interference with trade, business and contractual or economic relations; and "civil conspiracy". Weipa Industrial Site Committee secretary and AWU delegate Wayne Holmquist said on November 11 that the serving of writs had not diminished the strikers' resolve. "We are as determined as ever", he said. More than 2000 workers at CRA's Blair Athol and Tarong coal mines in Queensland, and the Dalrymple Bay coal-loading terminal walked out. Six CRA coal mines in the Hunter Valley and the Illawarra, in NSW, were also on strike. Australian Workers Union Queensland secretary Bill Ludwig said the legal action was the first time since the 1986 SEQEB strike that there had been a "threat to destroy people's lives as a weapon in an industrial dispute". On November 10, ACTU secretary Bill Kelty acknowledged that "this is a critically important issue for all Australian workers", stating that "the trade union movement will stand by these unionists". However, such a stand would mean the ACTU leading and supporting strike action by workers at two of Queensland's biggest infrastructure projects -- CRA's Century zinc mine and its Gladstone aluminium smelter pot line. The ACTU should also call on unions overseas to take industrial action against CRA companies around the world. The Weipa strikers had drawn inspiration from a letter of support from the Bougainville Freedom Movement which stated: "We wish to express our solidarity with you in your fight against the anti-union tactics and drive of the CRA mining company". CRA's Bougainville copper mine is at the centre of the long-running struggle for self-determination in Bougainville. Holmquist said the Weipa strikers had also been supported by some of Comalco's more than 300 non-union employees with offers of boats, food and money. Democratic Socialist spokesperson on industrial relations Sue Bull said on November 12, "This move to bankrupt unions and individual workers at Weipa is a key issue for the whole Australian work force. If CRA-Comalco can get away with this, the future of unionism in this country is in jeopardy. "We need to organise a broad movement of solidarity with the Weipa strikers to show this union-busting company that it will not be allowed to carry out its brutal plans without a major fight."
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From: Australian News |
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