Around 140 workers in the central Queensland coal mine at German Creek, near the town of Middlemount, have been on strike over a new collective agreement. The mine is owned by the giant Anglo American group which has now taken steps to try to employ strike breakers through a labour hire firm. At a nearby mine site, the same company recently sacked 85 permanent workers but kept all its contract and labour hire workers. Anglo American is also involved in a similar collective agreement dispute with its workforce at the Los Bronces copper mine in Chile. Against such global companies, co-ordinated industrial action by workers would be the strongest way to fight back.
Around 140 workers in the central Queensland coal mine at German Creek, near the town of Middlemount, have been on strike over a new collective agreement. The mine is owned by the giant Anglo American group which has now taken steps to try to employ strike breakers through a labour hire firm. At a nearby mine site, the same company recently sacked 85 permanent workers but kept all its contract and labour hire workers. Anglo American is also involved in a similar collective agreement dispute with its workforce at the Los Bronces copper mine in Chile. Against such global companies, co-ordinated industrial action by workers would be the strongest way to fight back.
