More exploitation: Employment and Work practices in the mining industry

Picture at right from here

Once upon a long ago, mining companies were major contributors to the working and social life of remote and regional Australia.  Not any more.  Mining companies are major destroyers of working conditions and social fabric in remote and regional Australia.  

Miss Eagle is now living in her third mining town and her second gold town.  First was the company town of Mount Isa - 1997-86.  A great place to be when it was owned by Mount Isa Mines.  True, there was a colourful past involving the eight month long strike in 1964 and the consequent declaration of a State of Emergency.

Then there was Tennant Creek from 1993 to 1997.  TC likes to bill itself as the site of the last gold rush in Australia.   Miss Eagle was there when the last of the major mining corporates closed down.  But there is always hope in the heart of a mining and there are always prospectors and geologists and there are smaller 'shows' around the Tennant these days.  And now Ballarat since 2012 - home to the beginnings of Australian democracy with the events surrounding Eureka and the ensuing lives of its proponents - and now finding itself, through a freeway and a good rail service, almost a western suburb of Melbourne with mining still going on below the cities streets. 

Mining has been a major component in the history of Australia: enriching the nation's economy; building strong social cultures; contributing to a strong union movement - particular through two major unions: the Australian Workers Union, and the CFMEU.

All this rich history has now been superceded by what is, arguably, a sterile social and working culture imported from that place of many poor working conditions, the USA.  It is called, FIFO.  There is no building of community and social fabric. Such tolerance of unions that may have existed and which was embedded in the community life of mining towns as dissipated.  Mining companies return more to their international shareholders than they do to the communities or states surrounding the mine sites from which they are extracting riches and leaving behind dubious environmental legacies. 

In some cases, such as Moura and Moranbah in Queensland there has a risen a sharp contrast between the old mining culture and the new - and, as it works itself out, never the twain shall meet.  This has a huge impact on the commercial hearts of the old mining towns.  The new mining ventures are full of single people, not families. The employees of the new mining ventures shop elsewhere - except perhaps for those who go to local pubs, clubs and bars.  And now the question is - how long will the old mining towns last.

There is nothing new about mining towns being swallowed up by the dust of history as the riches have been exhausted.  An example of this is Mary Kathleen in north-west Queensland which had a life of approximately thirty years.  But running out of resource is one thing. Chewing up, swallowing, and then spitting out human labour, creativity and capital is another - and that is what FIFO is doing.

That is one story.  Now there is another.  Huge environmental destruction - of the Galilee Basin and the Great Barrier Reef and its environs.  It seems that where once a community might have become united as it strove for better wages and safer working conditions, now the community becomes united against the environmental mess and destruction which is being thrust upon them. 

The recently elected Queensland Labor Government is fulfilling its election promise of a FIFO inquiry.  The Inquiry is being led by Jim Pearce a former miner.  The terms of reference for the Inquiry are here.   As well, they are published below.  Submissions MUST be in by 25 May.

As if this is not sufficiently controversial, Pearce spoke in the Queensland Parliament this week of the exploitative work practices of the mining companies - causing even more furore.  

To read what Pearce said in Parliament, please go here. 

A big thanks to the Galilee Basin Alliance 

who emailed the Pearce speech and set off this post.

~~~~

Fly in, fly out and other long distance commuting work practices in regional Queensland

• Inquiry Overview 
• Related Publications 
• View Submissions

Terms of Reference

The inquiry was referred to the committee by the Legislative Assembly on 27 March 2015. 

The Legislative Assembly has requested the committee:

1.  Inquire into and report on fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) and other long distance commuting work practices in regional Queensland.

2.  That, in undertaking this inquiry, the committee should consider the following issues:

• The health impacts on workers and their families from long-distance commuting, particularly mental health impacts, and the provision of health services in mining communities;
• The effects on families of rostering practices in mines using FIFO workforces;
• The extent and projected growth in FIFO work practices by region and industry;
• The costs and/or benefits and structural incentives and disincentives, including tax settings, for  companies choosing a FIFO workforce;
• The effect of a 100% non-resident FIFO workforce on established communities; including community wellbeing, the price of housing and availability, and access to services and infrastructure;
• The quality of housing provided in accommodation villages for FIFO workforces;
• Strategies to optimise the FIFO experience for employees and their families, communities and industry;
• The commuting practices for FIFO workforces, including the amount of time spent travelling, the methods of transportation, and adequacy of compensation paid for commuting travel times;
• The effectiveness of current responses to impacts of FIFO workforces of the Commonwealth, State and Local Governments; and
• Any other related matter.

3.   Further, that the committee seek public submissions and consult with key stakeholders including local communities, resource companies, unions and local government.

4.   Further, that the committee report to the Legislative Assembly by 30 September 2015.

Submissions

The Committee invites submissions addressing the terms of reference, from all interested parties.  Guidelines for making a submission to a parliamentary committee are available here: Guide to making a submission.

Closing date for written submissions is Monday 25 May 2015 by 4.00pm.  Submissions should be sent to:

Email:  ipnrc@parliament.qld.gov.au

Post:     Research Director
             Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee
             Parliament House
             George Street            
             Brisbane Qld 4000  

Inquiry timeline

Submissions close:	Monday 25 May 2015
Public departmental briefing:	Wednesday 20 May 2015
Public hearing in Brisbane:	Wednesday 3 June 2015 (tbc)
Regional public hearings	June 2015 (tbc)
Reporting due:	Wednesday 30 September 2015

What are you buying? How did it get to you? Whose hands has it passed through?

Australian Unions The temporary visa program is broken and facilitates the gross exploitation of migrant workers, a view confirmed by the Four Corners program that aired last night. Urgent action must be taken by the Federal Government to clamp down and regulate the entire temporary visa and labour hire system and remove rogue operators. There should be an immediate halt to any expansion of the temporary work visa program until the full outcome of the Senate Inquiry is known. National Union of Workers http://www.actu.org.au/actu-media/media-releases/2015/temporary-visa-program-front-for-slave-labour

Part 3: The conscious consumer becomes the aware and ethical shopper. Destroy the slavers from the checkouts of Australia!

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A PETITION TO SIGN 

AFTER LAST NIGHT'S SLAVING AWAY ON FOUR CORNERS. 

PLEASE SIGN IT. GET IT AROUND. YOU WILL FIND IT HERE.

Hopefully, this post, Part 3 on the Four Corners program, Slaving Away, is the last ... but who knows?

Please remember the words at left: 

Every time you spend money, 

you're casting a vote 

for the kind of world you want.

One thing Slaving Away makes clear is there is room for the conscientious, ethical shopper.  If you are someone who has breezed through your shopping only focusing on personal needs or needs of your household; if you are someone who has never considered the term 'ethics' in relation to visits to Coles, Aldi, Woolworths, then now is the time to step up.

First of all, let me introduce you to Shop Ethical!  

Shop Ethical! still continues as it started - a booklet you can keep with your wallet for your shopping trips.  Then it became a website. And now, for your smart phone, there is an app.  Shop Ethical can tell you about sustainable fishing, fair trade, human and animal rights abuses... and more.

However, it is best if you can keep up for yourself because quite often the naughties make the headlines.

Take Baiada, the poultry people. Their brands are well-known: Lilydale (a major supplier to Coles  and even the cooked chooks at Coles are Lilydale) and Steggles. 

However, it is not only chooks that Baiada kill.  They kill people too. And racism has been an issue within its migrant workforce.  Hardly the employer of your choice - that's if you really had a choice, which many migrant workers do not have.

I steer clear of Baiada products since all that came to my notice.  I am predominantly vegetarian but another household member is a carnivore - so chook is bought once a week for that person.  However, since the slavery accusations, I have declared to the household that chicken is DEFINITELY off the menu until I can find a really ethical source.  I don't rank my chances highly!

Akers Farms (turn to Part 2) apparently provides most of the sweet potatoes up and down the east coast.  I'm going to go back to local farmers markets and see what I can find in the way of an ethical source.  

As you, the ethical consumer will realise, fruit and veg in the major suppliers comes either on a plastic wrapped tray or loose.  I've never paid much attention - but I did happen to note that I bought some packaged celery and zucchini from Aldi and one gave information about the supplier.  I think we, as ethical shoppers, have to be able to check the source of a product if we wish.  So I am going to be writing to the Big 3 asking for the source of the product to be supplied on the loose fruit and veg.  

It is noteworthy that Slaving Away did not deal with Metcash, the suppliers of IGAs.  Not enough hours in the day?  Brands the same and if dealt with once in the Big 3, no need to go there again?

So what will the ethical shopper be looking out for:

• Fair Trade -v- Unfair Trade
• Animal cruelty
• Human cruelty - as in Slaving Away
• Fair pay and safe working conditions
• Union membership
• Local product and produce to support local jobs and firms
• Ethical corporate conduct
• Pricing - fair, too high, too low.  Watch out for too low. How? Why? What shortcuts?
• Quality

If you think of a few other necessary things to add to the above list, please let me know.

Part 2 - Names have been named in "Slaving Away". Here they are recorded below and their responses.

Major corporations were named on Slaving Away last night.

Below are the links to responses

by major named companies & corporations.

I rate the Costco response highest -

and I didn't think much of Coles.

It might be an idea to look in from time to time

to check for additions.  

ALDI Response [pdf]

Coles Response [pdf]

Costco Response [pdf]

Covino Response [pdf]

D'Vine Ripe Response [pdf]

KC Fresh Choice Response [pdf]

KFC Response [pdf]

Red Rooster Response [pdf]

Woolworths Response [pdf]

Akers Farm Response [pdf]

National Farmers' Federation Media Release following Four Corners

... a post from a blogger who had an Akers Farm experience

based on the link immediately above check your sweet potatoes purchased

CAREFULLY!

Part 1 - Slavery in Australia. Is the 'Let 'er rip" attitude on visas for overseas workers going to be stopped? The Robinvale experience

Above - Indigenous Mexican people caught up in slavery

Thank God it doesn't happen here in Australia?

You are sadly and badly mistaken.

A visit to this site will disabuse you of the fact that slavery is a thing of the past.

And...

Last night, Four Corners in their program, Slaving Away, did just that too.

To some Australians, I feel sure that the contents of last night's Four Corners program will have been a revelation.  To many of us, it was not.  To many of us, it is close to home.  One of the towns (and there were quite a few) which was highlighted last night was Robinvale, situated on the Murray River in north-western Victoria.

I have posted twice before on this blog in connection with Robinvale.  Please background yourselves with these.  

The segment in last night's program showed nothing that was new to the inhabitaants of Robinvale. 

In one of the posts linked above, I embedded an article about Robinvale written by the well- known journalist Elisabeth Wynhausen.  This was published in The Australian almost seven years ago.  Little has changed.  Those who own the fruit get fatter. The labour hire Simon Legrees around Robinvale prosper.  The enslaved play dodgem and try to remain invisible.  

To see or to find the invisible slaves one has to be up early - about 5.30am - and be around at pick-up time, about 4pm.  There is a view in Robinvale that the drivers of the pick-up and deliver buses claim Centrelink benefits. With their bus-driving work, probably cash in hand, taking place outside office hours it is not difficult for them to give an appearance of being unemployed.  Last night, showed the oppressors as Chinese - but my information from Robinvale says that the Tongans are pretty good at this.  There is a significant Tongan population in Robinvale - even to having its own churches. 

People are packed into their accommodation, cooking in their rooms and living space.  This is of concern to the local Fire Brigade  who have noted the people packing in local houses and accommodation.  There have been no people burned to death - but it is always of concern.  One motel  burned to the ground last year and has not been rebuilt.  The motel was thought to have housed 80 to 100 people enslaved in a labour hire program.  The fire occurred about 8.30 am. The occupants had been taken to the farms.  But the shudder comes as people imagine what might have occurred at another time of day.

There are queries in Robinvale of how the powers-that-be might effectively tackle this rural slavery. There are queries about taxation - is it being paid or is it being avoided?  There are queries about occupational superannuation - is it being paid or is it being avoided?  Does the enslaved labour understand occupational superannuation?  Should the labour be still around at retirment, do they know how to claim any payments (if there are payments) and what happens to support them in their later years?

As reported in my previous posts Robinvale thinks it is being screwed; done-over; short-changed by what is happening.  Housing availability can be categorised as DIRE.  Nearby Swan Hill has no housing problem.  Any money available for housing in the area, seems to end up in Swan Hill while nearb Robinvale needs at least 100 houses.  It is estimated that, overall, the town is short by 750 beds. 

The locals would like to see a recognition of vertical integration of the whole labour hire rorting - which may mean bringing together ovelapping departments, adjoining interests.  There's taxation; wages; health; superannuation and retirement income; industrial relatioons; immigration ..... 

And there has to be enforcement, severe clamping down.  But is there an inclination to do this at the Federal level?  You see, the Federal Government has made it clear that they are going to expedite the Working Holiday Visa (417) and the Employer Sponsored Work Visa (457).  To do this, the current Federal Government has introduced the concept of Designated Areas.  In short our current Australian Government is aiding and abetting the shady side of the street in regard to the easy use of 417s and 457s.  All this at a time of very high youth unemployment and underemployment.  

So what does this really mean - what is the end result?

1. The government has surreptitiously introduced policies that fit into a total picture of driving down wages.  Is this to convenience employers? Is it so Australia can compete againswt low-wage countries, particularly those in Aisa?

2. If there is increased employment under 417s and 457s, what is the government doing to ensure there is no exploitation of workers in these categories.  Rorts and abuse under 457s have a long history. Recent rorts and abuses can be seen here >>>  

FWO concerns over 417 visas

Hungarian workers on 457s told to go home after complaining about pay rates

Adelaide businesses face court over alleged workplace breaches involving 457 visa-holders

sc417 visa holders abused and encouraged not to pay tax 

Dispiriting report on how to turn an encouraging exhibition of public support into a tawdry tale

How many journos does it take to run the News Corp Indigenous smear machine

 Mark Pearce 4 May 2015, 6:00pm  1,180  19

 Indigenous AustraliaMedia

Herald Sun, pages 4 and 5, 2/5/15

How three experienced Herald Sun reporters used deception and trickery to distort the critical closure of remote Aboriginal communities issue into a propaganda piece about ‘commuter chaos’. Mark Pearce reports.

ON SATURDAY 2 May 2015, an insert article on page 5 appeared in a Herald Sun double page spread, connected with front-page headlines concerning a protest rally against the closures of remote Aboriginal communities that shutdown Melbourne’s CBD.

In the age of media restructures and budget cuts, apparently it takes not one, not two, but three journalists to undertake the reporting and writing of a two-hour event.

Throughout the insert article 'Protest against WA government’s policy shuts Melbourne CBD again', we witness a plethora of heavy-handed right wing language, unofficial reporting, no fact checking and omitted information.

You might imagine that three qualified journalists writing a lead news story for Melbourne’s primary newspaper could have the capacity to pull together all their skills and write an in-depth discussion (with an educational or informative approach) depicting the real Australian Indigenous issues of today. None of this seemed to occur.  

To begin, lets examine part of the headline phrase: “WA Government Policy”. The WA government has not released anything in the form of an official written policy vis à vis the closure of remote Aboriginal communities. They obviously have some sort of a plan – perhaps an unplanned plan – but no official policy.

A few paragraphs into the article, we read [IA emphasis]:

'… hundreds of thousands of people trying to get home were severely inconvenienced as anangry throng of more than 12,000 people jammed the streets.'

(Page 5 of the Herald Sun, 2/5/15)

'An angry throng of ... people'? Really?

This event was a peaceful march and rally attended by young and old Australians; families with children, mothers, fathers, uncles and aunties, sisters and brothers of all colour and race. If this was an 'angry throng of 12,000 people' as suggested, where are the arrests or violent outbreaks? After all, if 12,000 people were angry, surely at some point hostility provoked somebody? But there was none of that. No arrests, just a peaceful protest.

The photograph from the same article speaks a thousand words; a peaceful "sit-down" listening to leaders who voiced their concerns about governance and humanity — an act also known as "democratic free speech". So was this a throng of 12,000 angry people, or 12,000 people just following their spirit?

Not an 'angry throng' but  a remarkably peaceful assembly 12,000 passionate people out expressing their support the rights of the First Australians (Image by Nick Harrison)

Halfway through the article, there is mention of one protestor’s response that the reporters – allegedly – interviewed:

When asked to name a specific community under threat, or the political leaders responsible for policy decisions, some protesters were stumped. “With the amount of issues I follow worldwide, you couldn’t expect anyone to remember the specifics like that”, said one.

Assuming the journalists attended the event and spoke with some of the 12,000 protesters, surely at least one human being would have obliged them with their name?

If the journalists had researched this issue, they would recognise the fact that there has never been and never will be any naming of any community “to be closed” or “not viable” as WA Premier Colin Barnett has not declared which ones are in the firing line, just that up to 150 outstations may be closed. Everything else is silence.

This act of government silence is the incident that has incited 98 organised protests held around the world on 1 May 2015.

Further down in the article, the story shifts to 71 year-old Faye, with no surname or town of residence published. Faye allegedly said:

"Looks like I’ve got to walk… I’ve got an injured knee and I’m not looking forward to it.”

Where is Faye walking to, or from for that matter? If anyone has ever visited a CBD, at some point you know you need to get out of a car, or tram, or train, or office, or shop and walk to your destination. Perhaps Faye just forgot to bring along her magic carpet?

The article ends on a comment by Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews who suggested:

“Peaceful protests are best done when the police have been properly consulted.”

No violence or anger here — from police or protesters (Image by Nick Harrison)

Apart from the all day “rolling live coverage” reported from the Herald Sun website to bring citizen awareness of the event, Victorian Police officers safely guided the march of 12,000 protestors, including dozens of police waiting in place at the city square destination. What on earth wasn't “properly consulted” with police?

If we want to talk about proper consultation, perhaps Mr Andrews’ Victorian State political counterparts might think about having detailed discussions with Aboriginal leaders and the people who live in the WA remote communities, rather than deflecting "consultation problems" back at the (Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance) organisers, who staged a successful and peaceful event.

Yes, shutting down the CBD was part of attaining mainstream awareness of the issue, however the dysfunctional disinformation, including the inflated figures of football fans affected and the front-page headline “City Highjack”, is the same perpetual propaganda machine still squeaking.

The rust-ridden cogwheels (our governments) keep asking themselves is: “How do we make the Aboriginal argument more palatable today?”

Governments and media organisations don’t grind this primary school disinformation out to people who are already on board with what they’re saying but, rather, to the people who need to swallow the pill a little more slowly.  

For the last 200-plus years, the machine has been tinkered with, but the same sounds of “the savages”, “the uncivilized” “the uneducated”, “the morally deficient”, and “the second-class citizens” still exists. Their culture is “primitive”, they’re “not progressive” and, today, they’re living an “unviable” or “unsustainable lifestyle” we hear — in one of the richest countries on the planet.

Accordingly, we see the same rattling of the machine in this double page spread headline 'Still Selfish, Still A Rabble'. Which was an unapologetic follow up from their April front page about another Indigenous rally, which declared peaceful demonstrators to be: 'Selfish Rabble' (see below). 

This dehumanization has always been the argument; therefore you can’t negotiate with them.

There are members in all factions of society that can’t be reasoned with, but the fear-mongering component is effective with Aboriginals living in remote communities because it plays on the “othering”. If you never see, or hear from another group of people it’s very easy to demonize them.

 

History shows us how the British negotiated with the First Australians previously. Is there any negotiating with Aboriginal communities today? Has anything fundamentally changed?

The fact is, very little has changed, except the actual policies, which eventually remove Traditional Custodians from their land anyway.

The policies and their proceedings have resulted in the gradual disintegration of cultural standards, including fringe communities in urban areas, rising rates of alcoholism, incarceration and youth suicides, and ultimately the disempowerment of the people.

It’s clear that government and sections of their sidekick media corporations want to fashion the Aboriginal issue around personalized emotive issues like we can’t “subsidise lifestyle choices”, which equates to “draining the tax-paying purse”, and then allow other nonsensical matters to take flight such as focusing on “commuter chaos”, caused by "angry throngs" of protesters affecting the elderly and city workers who may end up getting home a little late for dinner.

A peaceful sit-down as 12,000 human rights supporters respectfully listen to speakers discuss the issue of remote community closures and Indigenous culture (Image by Nick Harrison)

The irony of the issue couldn’t be stronger.

It’s another chapter in perception deception, which over time ultimately allows government to drop the palatable pill so that it digests into dozens of petite ills and evils, eventually seeping into mainstream consciousness.

Amnesty International and United Nations back the fight against remote Aboriginal community closures. The three journalists and their editors seem to have omitted this all-important fact. Perhaps they too have contracted "Murdochian amnesia" when it comes to the issue of human rights. 

Mark Pearce is a Melbourne based filmmaker who has produced and directed a range of micro documentaries on Aboriginal and environmental issues that people of the Kimberley face. You can follow Mark on Twitter @balangara.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License

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