After almost two years of negotiations and a 180 day strike, maintenance workers at the Griffin Coal mine in the West Australian state of Australia signed an agreement to go back to work with the company. While the workers defeated attempts by the company to cut their wages by over 40%, they did agree to take a 20% cut. In addition, the company was able to achieve cuts to the manning levels at the company. This dispute is an example of the brutal industrial relation environment in Australia and the ongoing offensive by capital to break workers’ organisations and conditions.
After almost two years of negotiations and a 180 day strike, maintenance workers at the Griffin Coal mine in the West Australian state of Australia signed an agreement to go back to work with the company. While the workers defeated attempts by the company to cut their wages by over 40%, they did agree to take a 20% cut. In addition, the company was able to achieve cuts to the manning levels at the company. This dispute is an example of the brutal industrial relation environment in Australia and the ongoing offensive by capital to break workers’ organisations and conditions.
