Commission cheats Gordonstone miners

Shortly after the Workplace Relations Act became law in mid-1997, 312 
miners at Gordonstone were sacked because they wouldn't accept the 
company's demand to abandon conditions in their certified Enterprise 
Agreement. It wanted to strip the agreement back to the "20 allowable award 
matters" in the Federal Government's legislation.

The mineworkers, members of the Mining and Energy Division of the CFMEU, 
resisted the company's attempts to force a totally unacceptable "agreement" 
on them.

Then on October 1, 1997, the entire workforce was sacked. Only weeks before 
their dismissal, the company had erected a statue in recognition of the 
miners setting a number of world underground coal production records. It 
acknowledged them as "the best in the world".

In February 1998, they won Australia's biggest ever unfair dismissal case 
in the Federal Court. Industrial Relations Commissioner Hodder ruled that 
when the mine reopened the illegally sacked miners should have preference 
of employment.

This was overturned by a majority Full Bench decision of the Industrial 
Relations Commission.

Last month a Full Bench of the Federal Court found the Full Bench decision 
of the Commission to be wrong in law.

Because of a legal technicality arising from the Workplace Relations Act, 
the Federal Court ruled that although the Gordonstone miners were illegally 
dismissed and were entitled to be re-employed, the Court did not have the 
power to quash the wrong decision of the Commission's Full Bench.

The Gordonstone miners and their families are being denied natural justice, 
said John Maitland, National Secretary of the CFMEU.

"They have endured incredible hardship and suffering for over 21 months 
despite being recognised by the Courts as being in the right. If Reith 
wants to make any changes to the Workplace relations Act, he should remove 
the injustices that victimise workers and their families not introduce 
further repressive measured that will strip employees of internationally 
accepted labour rights and benefits."

The Industrial Relations Commission has the powers to rectify its error, 
and ensure that those sacked workers who wish to be reinstated are given 
their jobs back.

A request earlier this month by the union for the matter to be relisted was 
rejected by the Industrial Relations Commission.

This is just one of a number of recent instances in which the Commission 
appears to be taking a tougher anti-worker stance, more in line with the 
Government's and employer's aims.

See story of workers at Email's F Muller plant on page 4 for another 
example of the Commission refusing to reinstate sacked workers on their 
former conditions.