Weipa miners vow to maintain blockade

By Bill Mason BRISBANE — Unionists at the giant CRA bauxite mine at Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland have vowed to maintain their blockade in the face of threats of arrest. The 78 award wage workers at the mine who have refused to sign non-union contracts have been on strike since October 13. On October 25, ACTU assistance secretary Tim Pallas urged the federal government to "abide by its Accord commitments to stop the use of non-union agreements which de-unionise existing workplaces." Pallas said the local union workers were in a "David and Goliath" struggle and had been denied pay rises of $15,000 a year for the past two years. CRA has forced individual contracts on its work force at mines in Tasmania and Gladstone in northern Queensland. The striking workers have blockaded a bridge to the mine, and are using a flotilla of small boats to prevent tugs accessing a wharf ship-loader at Weipa. Australian Workers Union Weipa delegate Wayne Holmquist said on October 27 that blockade members would "fight" to hold their positions if police were called in.

From GLW issue 209