By Alex Bainbridge
HUNTER VALLEY — The Industrial Relations Commission decided on November 7 to terminate the enterprise bargaining period at the strike-bound Hunter Valley No. 1 mine and begin compulsory arbitration. Miners' union leader Mick Kelly says the decision is an "overwhelming victory" for the union.
Union members will meet on November 10 to vote on a leadership recommendation to return to work and support the arbitration process.
Compulsory arbitration has been one of the union's central demands for several weeks. Rio Tinto, the mine owners, have consistently opposed arbitration. Manager Allan Davies is reported to have said that the "inevitable compromise" that arbitration would involve will not bring the major changes the company is seeking. The federal government also opposed compulsory arbitration in the IRC.
However, arbitration is not going to cost Rio Tinto anything. The miners have been fighting to defend already existing conditions in any new enterprise agreement with the company. "Compromise" from the miners' point of view means loss of conditions and the question now that compulsory arbitration will proceed is which conditions will be lost.
Rio Tinto has been focusing on seniority provisions in the current award. Seniority is a significant gain for workers, affecting not only hiring and firing but also shift allocations and other day-to-day matters. Seniority protection also prevents victimisation during retrenchments.
Workers at Hunter Valley No. 1's sister mine, Mount Thorley, have also been battling attempts to ditch seniority protection prior to a wave of retrenchments. Mount Thorley workers ended a strike on November 5 after the IRC ordered a return to work, accompanied by postponement of the company's new rosters which ditch seniority provisions.
Workers at three other mines in the district also began 48-hour strikes on November 4 after the companies involved, Shell and Peabody, joined the application by Rio Tinto in the IRC to end seniority provisions.
The IRC has ordered that miners return to work at Hunter Valley No. 1 under pre-strike conditions which must last at least 21 days. Conciliation begins on November 12 and if that doesn't work, compulsory arbitration will be the next step.
Kelly told Â鶹´«Ã½ that there are numerous ways that Rio Tinto could disrupt the arbitration process. "If they keep going like they have up until now, the process could take some time."
According to press reports, Rio Tinto responded to the IRC decision by cancelling its electoral commission-administered ballot of mine workers. Rio Tinto had organised the ballot to achieve a non-union enterprise agreement, including significant loss of conditions. This had been accompanied by a bombardment of media advertising, including double-page newspaper advertisements and TV commercials clearly aimed at undermining public support for the miners. According to Kelly, the campaign "hadn't done them any good".
One hundred miners protested against Rio Tinto outside a state government-organised coal conference in Newcastle on November 7.