Mineworkers act for Australia's interest The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, December 16th, 1998. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** As expected Australia's 20,000 coal miners went on strike for 48 hours on Monday were ordered back to work under Reith's anti- trade union industrial legislation. Miners were protesting against the Federal Government's refusal to protect Australia's national interest following the announcement that Shell, MIM and the North Goonyella Mine have offered a major cut in coking coal prices to overseas buyers. The price cut will flow on to all coal exports, causing revenue losses of up $2 billion for Australia and will inevitably lead to further mass sackings. In declaring support for the action of the Miners' union, Peter Symon, General Secretary of the CPA said that nothing could show more clearly that the Federal Government has abandoned any pretence of protecting the interests of Australian industry and the thousands of workers who will lose their jobs as a result of the actions of the coal mining companies. Most are well-known TNCs. The miners, on the other hand, are attempting to protect the economic and social interests of the Australian working people and Australia's national interests. "Peter Reith has declared that the price of coal is a matter for `market forces'. This, coupled with the refusal of the Resources Minister, Nick Minchin, to attend a conference of representatives of the NSW and Queensland governments together with industry and union representatives on December 17, shows that the government intends to go along with whatever the big corporations decide even though it will result in increased hardship for more Australian townships and communities already in crisis. "Reith is claiming a victory for his industrial legislation but by suppressing legitimate union demands, his government is adding to the already widespread anger of working people. Sooner or later, the Government and the big corporations will be called to account", said Peter Symon. In a media release, Tony Maher, General Secretary of the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division says that "Coal mining communities are reeling from the impact of the coal crisis and this government is to blame. "In the past two years alone, around 4,000 jobs have been lost out of a workforce of 26,000. Another 1,000 jobs are on the �chopping block. For every mining job lost another three jobs disappear in the community. This is not orderly industry restructuring; it's a bloodbath. "These latest price cuts will inflict enormous losses on Australia and the Federal Government's refusal to address the issues with other stakeholders in the coal industry is a disgrace", he said. "Locked into its free market dogma, the Federal Government last year abolished coal export license controls giving the green light to the latest round of disastrous price cutting by Shell, MIM and North Goonyella at enormous cost to Australia. "Our members, our families and our communities are paying a devastating personal and social price. We've had enough", said Tony Maher. end ============== Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List As vilified, slandered and attacked by One Nation mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
