Mining giants trying to change industrial law

We saw earlier this week the attack from the mining companies on our Pacific National drivers.

According to Xstrata and other mining giants, our drivers taking entirely legal, protected industrial action will cost them money – and therefore they feel entitled to take legal actions against us.

Negotiations for a new Pacific National enterprise agreement have been ongoing for more than 12 months now. Workers have said that there are areas – like safety – that haven’t been adequately addressed in the company’s proposed agreement. We won’t back down on some key areas – and nor should we.

As a last resort, the union has applied to take protected industrial action. You have to jump through hoops to get such action approved by Fair Work Australia, but we don’t feel we’ve been left with any other option.

A piece in the Newcastle Herald by Greg Ray sums the issue up brilliantly – have a read here.

In his piece, Ray questions the mining giants’ third party role in this negotiation and what it means for industrial law generally.

What do you think about the mining companies weighing in? What’s your take on Greg Ray’s piece? What do you think of what PN is doing?