The Federal Court has ordered more than $1,272,109 in damages and compensation, and $24,600 more in interest payments, be paid to a Hail Creek coalminer victimised and stood down by Rio Tinto, an amount nearly unprecedented in workplace disputes.
Anglo American has escalated the situation at their German Creek mine by advertising for a new workforce while existing employees conduct legal and protected industrial action.
The CFMEU is calling for an urgent halt to the Government’s free trade talks with India due to the risk of even more deadly asbestos flooding into Australia.
The union has written to Trade Minister Steven Ciobo calling for an immediate and urgent suspension of negotiations.
“The CFMEU can confirm that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this morning executed a search warrant seeking documents in relation to the Competition and Consumer Act.
A decision handed down in the Federal Court today found that the Royal Commission taskforce conducted themselves “unreasonably” in the raids carried out at the Queensland Branch of the CFMEU.
A call from Queensland Labor MP Jo-Ann Miller for a Royal Commission into Black Lung disease has been welcomed in mining communities across the state as more workers get diagnosed, and the scourge of the resurgent deadly disease continues to spread.
In an announcement that is sending shockwaves through the mining industry, a report from medical experts investigating rates of Black Lung disease amongst Australian miners has revealed the problem is much worse than anticipated.
The CFMEU is escalating their campaign for more action against illegal importation of asbestos after the discovery of the cancer causing substance on a major Brisbane project on the weekend.