Impresión en red.

relations. She said that no decision had yet been made however she did not anticipate that the election of a non Labor government would have any adverse effect on industrial relations in the coal mining industry. As she explained it, some lessons had been learned from the British coal miners' strike. For example, there are no huge stockpiles of coal in Australia. She also pointed out that with the current market situation, Australia was selling as much coal as it could produce, so that an industry-wide strike would have a very detrimental effect on Australia's export earnings and balance of payments. It was unlikely therefore that any

to the multinationals demand to further deregulate the coal export industry through the relaxation of price controls, threatens thousands of mining jobs unless it is reversed". * * 6 By October 1989, a wave of mine closures, retrenchments and protracted disputes had occurred leaving the industry with 4000 less jobs, and 16 less mines.7 * Although the situation later stabilised with a current boom in investments, profits and jobs, Geoff Brown, President of the Northern District of the Miners' Federation, was critical of the Government's suggestion that a statement of common interest could be arrived at between producers and mineworkers. As for the notion that an improved perception of industrial relations is necessary:

...nobody could accuse unions of dragging their feet on modernising industrial relations in the coal industry. Award restructuring and amalgamation are at the top of our agenda. 3

In 1981-82, conflict in the mining industry had erupted over wages, which owners and miners sought to negotiate (unsuccessfully) through collective bargaining procedures. 9 10 During the following years, the source of conflict focussed on the very survival of the industry, with jobs the chief source of concern to mining industry unions. One dispute alone, a lockout at Broken Hill in 1986, was followed by the loss of 860 jobs (almost a third of the local mining industry's workforce). 1 0

Other metalliferous mines not covered by the Federation have also been involved in disputes since 1982, especially in the Western Australian iron ore industry. One, the Robe River dispute, will be the subject of a case study in Chapter Twelve. While the maintenance of jobs has continued to be a top priority, there has nevertheless been a qualified acceptance by unions that some job losses were inevitable if the various mining industries were to remain viable in the international market. Furthermore, there have been occasions when, in the interests of creating new jobs, unions have put forward proposals aimed at guaranteeing productivity. One such occurrence involved the oil exploration project on the North-West Shelf where unions offered a virtual strike-free contract to achieve a competitive edge over international competitors. The proposal put forward by the Western Australia Trades and Labor Council appeared to government would be prepared to run the risk of enforcing legislation that would inevitably result in an immediate and indefinite stoppage. Interview, 30.10.89.

6 National Liaison Committee, Coal industry deregulation, Sydney, November 1986. 7 G. Brown, paper presented at Singleton Coal Discussion day, 20.10.89.

QLoc.cit.

9 C. Fisher, 'The Coal Campaign', in Industrial Relations Papers, Canberra, 1982, p.1.

1 0B. Flynn, 'Trade Unions and the Law: The Broken Hill Dispute', in The Journal of Industrial

Relationsx Vol.30, No.1., March 1988, p.32. The Broken Hill miners are metalliferous, but the

unions on the assembly site and a single workers' authority to "exercise control of the industrial relations issues on site". 11

By the end of 1987, the impact of change in the mineral industry was evident. Record production figures in the final December quarter showed an increase of 14 per cent over the previous three months. The Australian Mining Industry Council (AMIC) attributed the upturn, in part, to more harmonious industrial relations. Lauchlan McIntosh, the executive director of AMIC also claimed that the figures "demonstrated what could be achieved by the minerals industry when wasteful strikes and work practices were controlled". 12

Job losses in the Australian manufacturing industry were severe by the end of 1982. In the metal industry alone, fifty thousand workers had been retrenched in 1982. 12 The four-day working week had also started to become widespread. MTIA affiliate companies in Melbourne had shown that fourteen of the forty companies represented at one meeting had initiated a reduced working week. Bert Evans, executive director of the MTIA suggested that thi^was probably only "the tip of the iceberg". 14 The MTIA has taken a leading role in embracing the fundamentals of the Accord. It has not aligned itself with other peak employer groups associated with the New Right who have advocated deregulation of the industrial relations system and the introduction of collective bargaining. With a view to increasing the industry’s efficiency and competitiveness with overseas markets, the MTIA in 1986 produced a document entitled MTIA Proposals For A Compact With The Metal Unions. In the introduction it stated:

This can only be achieved by a concerted effort by all who work in the industry: by a close working relationship based on mutuality of interest between management and employees in all the workplaces and between the Metal Unions and MTIA at the industry consultative level. It is with a view to fostering such relationships that this agreement has been prepared for consideration. 1 5

11 Weekend Australian, 18-19.6.88.