Unions confront MIM over safety
By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the electricians' union are locked in a battle over safety with Mount Isa Mines at the central Queensland Oaky Creek underground coal mine.
About 150 workers were stood down on April 12 when vehicle drivers who transport miners into the mine refused to operate the vehicles without making their own safety checks.
CFMEU lodge president Larry Prof said on April 13, "Operators are very conscious of safety issues, as MIM has told them that their safety standards have been slipping". The workers were willing to work, but the company was preventing them from doing so, he added.
MIM is threatening to use the new Workplace Relations Act to attack the unions. CFMEU mining division national secretary John Maitland said on April 13 that some major coal companies — including MIM, RTZ-CRA and Arco — were not prepared to "cooperate" in negotiating agreements under the new federal industrial laws.