The Guardian 17 May, 2006
Howard aims at mine rescue team
The Howard Government’s WorkChoices legislation could lead to the destruction of the crack mine rescue team that saved the lives of Brant Webb and Todd Russell.
The NSW Mines Rescue Service, a specialist operation half-owned by the Construction, Forestry and Mining Union (CFMEU), worked hand-in-glove with the AWU to rescue the gold miners buried 1000 metres below Beaconsfield in Tasmania.
The CFMEU’s Peter Murray, a Rescue Service board member, said Howard had an agenda to undermine safety training.
He said they wanted to put an end to union-backed safety organisations, such as the Mines Rescue Service. The organisation, formed 80 years ago after a string of underground disasters, provided the experts for the Beaconsfield rescue and trained one of the trapped miners.
It provides safety training to miners under state-based occupational health and safety laws.
The laws require at least five percent of the mining workforce to undergo safety training. However, the Howard Government has flagged wresting power off the states in OH&S — threatening specific provisions in mine safety.
Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews’ draconian legislation specifically forbids the inclusion of union or union-backed safety courses in agreements.
His Office of the Employment Advocate has just refused to ratify a Queensland coal mining agreement that green lights union-endorsed safety education.
His government is a fierce opponent of the CFMEU. It has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a dodgy Royal Commission and a special anti-worker building industry police force in a bid to limit its ability to represent its members.