By James Vassilopoulos
"The Hunter Valley miners are fighting for secure, permanent jobs, for the maintenance of long service leave and recreation leave — the same conditions that many working people are fighting for. They deserve our full support and solidarity", said Tim Gooden, a Democratic Socialist candidate for the seat of Molonglo in the February ACT elections.
Gooden is a long-term union activist. Previously a carpenter in the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, he is currently active in the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and a member of its national executive. He is also the secretary of the ACT Public Service section.
"The dispute is between 430 miners and the world's biggest mining company. Rio Tinto makes about $1 billion profit a year. It has a talent for trampling on indigenous peoples' rights — like it did in Bougainville — for ravaging the environment and for pushing uranium mining and the nuclear industry", Gooden told Green Left Weekly.
Rio Tinto is pushing the lie that the miners are elite workers to undermine solidarity. But, said Gooden, it is the Anglo-Australian multinational — and its government backers — which defend the interests of the elites — the rich.
While miners do earn more then the average wage, they work in an extremely dangerous and dirty environment, with extended working hours. More miners die than in any other industry, explained Gooden. "According to the coal award, a greaser or a rigger gets a minimum wage of just $526.50 per week. That's hardly part of the elite."
Gooden described the record of the miners' union. "They have been at the forefront of winning improvements in working conditions. When the miners won a 40-hour week, that flowed through to other workers. When they got four weeks' recreation leave, so did other workers. Other workers are indebted to past miners' struggles."
On the role the ALP has played in the dispute, Gooden said, "Bob Carr, the great privatiser, has been a wet blanket. When the miners began a 72-hour strike, he almost immediately organised a meeting with the miners to call off the strike. Since then he has pushed for compulsory arbitration, which will mean that some working conditions will almost definitely be lost."
Gooden went on to say that the commission will normally give a good decision for workers only if the dispute has been won on the ground beforehand.
"Workers need an alternative to the Labor Party. While we all want Howard out, we shouldn't forget that it was the ALP which cut real wages in the '80s by up to 25%, which sacked thousands from the public service, which introduced non-union enterprise bargaining. Labor never repealed the anti-union 45D and 45E [Trade Practices Act] laws. Labor is totally two-faced."
Gooden said it was important for other unions to be prepared to strike in support of the Hunter miners. The delegates' meeting in Newcastle on October 21 was an important development because the motion endorsed included scope for industrial action. Now, unions must deliver, he said.
"If all unions come out and strike in solidarity with the miners, Howard and Reith's anti-union legislation can't touch us. But if they don't, the miners could end up in a situation similar to what occurred under Thatcher in 1984, where they became completely isolated and lost their fight for jobs."