By Jonathan Singer
Coalminers at the five BHP coalmines in the Illawarra region of NSW struck for a second consecutive day on February 9, claiming that BHP management harassed workers and their families during their first strike day.
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) mining division members at BHP coalmines in NSW and Queensland had walked out for 24 hours against BHP's decision to cut by 5% coking coal prices for Japanese customers, in return for an increase in BHP's market share.
The CFMEU believes that BHP, as the biggest Australian coal producer and exporter, has set a new lower price level, which will cause further mine closures and the loss of thousands of jobs in the industry.
BHP obtained court orders for a return to work. The Queensland miners cut short their strike. According to the February 9 Sydney Morning Herald, the CFMEU said that in the Illawarra, BHP supervisors had woken miners from sleep to try to bully them back to work.
The union had reports of miners' families being told that they could "lose their homes" if the miners did not return to work. A BHP spokesperson denied the harassment, saying that, at a late hour, notices of the court order could only be served at home.
BHP has threatened court action for damages and contempt of court. The CFMEU said the latter would fail because the second strike was an "additional and separate" action. The February 9 Sydney Morning Herald report says that miners promised to conduct a campaign of non-cooperation in the future, after recently achieving productivity improvements of up to 30%.
The CFMEU said the price cut had "betrayed" the workers. Companies would now "seek to offset the effects of the price cuts through cutting costs. This means sacking more mineworkers and attacking our wages and conditions", Tony Maher, the mining division general president, said in a February 7 media release.
The union argues that Australian coal exporters should unite in price negotiations and has advocated that the government establish a national coal authority for this purpose.
Higher coal prices, however, directly raise only the coal companies' profits; no benefits flow automatically to the workers. Moreover, the coal companies have shown no lack of desire to cut costs and increase their profits at workers' expense, regardless of the circumstances. Meanwhile, those companies buying coal from Australia would undoubtedly use the higher price to increase the pressure on their workers to accept lower wages and conditions.