What a year! Voters in the Hunter Valley sent coal miner ‘Big Dan’ Repacholi to Canberra, the national energy grid became big news, and the Albanese Government passed its first batch of Industrial Relations laws. Sadly this year we also lost ‘living legend of the Illawarra’, Fred Moore. This episode we look back on the highs and lows of 2022.
When BHP tried to dud their apprentices at Peak Downs, Saraji, Goonyella Riverside & Blackwater out of maternity leave, Jenna Saunders sprung into action. Thanks to Jenna, apprentices like Paige Martin can give her newborn baby Nova the best possible start in life. It’s one of the reasons Jenna won Queensland delegate of the year.
Shotfirers, or chargers as they’re known in hard rock mines, handle dangerous explosives every day. So it’s an action packed job. But how can getting your shotfirer ticket also be a great career move? And how does the job differ in metalliferous mines? We speak to Greg Braes who’s spent 32 years mining silver, zinc and lead in Broken Hill.
Just in time for Labour Day; The Coal Creek War of 1891, where a Tennessee mining company sacked its workers, tore down their homes and brought in prisoners to replace them. What happened next wasn’t pretty. Hear this and many other stories from author Kim Kelly.
Ten teams from the Lithgow, Moolarben and Gunnedah districts recently battled it out at the Western Mines Rescue Competition. We followed the team from Springvale as they strove for glory. Who took out best team? You’ll have to listen to find out…
What would it take to get your bum in the seat of a 6000 tonne, 24 storey dragline excavator? This episode you’ll find out what it’s like to drive one of these monsters and what skills you need to do it.
What’s driving the east coast ‘energy crisis’? General President Tony Maher gives us his take. And we find out how power station workers in Western Australia are managing a ‘just transition’ for their families and communities as the government announces the coal fired power stations in the state will close by 2029.
Members at arguably the most famous coal mine in Australia - the Carmichael open cut in Queensland - feel dudded. Not only is the pay terrible but safety and COVID procedures are pretty crook too. And the mob in control, MacKellar, are fond of saying ‘we’re the reserve grade bush footy team who landed in the NRL’. Now, workers are getting organised for a better deal. We find out more.
Third generation coal miner, Moranbah local and Labor Party candidate for the seat of Capricornia Russell Robertson talks about ‘Same Job, Same Pay’, the betrayal of coal miners by the Nats and One Nation and his plans to beef up health services and social housing in central Queensland.
This Federal election, the Mining and Energy Union is campaigning for Same Job Same Pay laws to end the pay discrimination between labour hire coal miners and permanent employees. Labor’s Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke explains how Same Job Same Pay would work
Unionists in the Illawarra are celebrating the life of Mining and Energy Union life member Fred Moore - who passed in January - just nine months short of his 100th birthday. Fred started mining at 14 and was an advocate for women’s rights, a supporter of the local Aboriginal community and a workers’ rights activist.
It’s time to get excited if you live in Cessnock, Muswellbrook or Singleton because you get to vote for a coal miner at the coming Federal Election. Five time Olympian and Mining & Energy Union member Dan Repacholi is running in the Hunter to ensure mining families get a fair shake of the sauce bottle.
Working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day might seem crazy but for 1,100 Alabama coal miners it’s their reality. They’ve been on strike since April Fool’s Day - but this is no joke - the faceless private equity firms which operate their mines have zero conscience and are more interested in recruiting strike breakers than talking to their workforce.
The horrific burns suffered by five members in Anglo American’s Grosvenor mine in May last year were avoidable. The company had been warned many times about safety issues. Now members have taken matters into their own hands and formed the first ever labour hire only lodge to ensure it never happens again.
Iron ore train drivers in the Pilbara are exhausted. They’ve borne the brunt of a sector booming in the middle of a pandemic - leaving some stuck over east chewing up leave and some doing double the work in 45 degrees in the west.
On this day in 1921 75 miners at Mt Mulligan in Far North Queensland never returned home from work. The town lost three quarters of its men that day. On this episode you’ll meet some of the men involved.
The BHP Central Agreement is the biggest and most comprehensive agreement in the Queensland coalfields. As negotiations get underway for the next deal, we look back at the 40+ year history of blues, wins and epic struggles that have shaped conditions at work and in coal communities.
The BHP Central Agreement is the biggest and most comprehensive agreement in the Queensland coalfields. As negotiations get underway for the next deal, we look at back at the 40+ year history of blues, wins and epic struggles that have shaped conditions at work and in coal communities.
What do union delegates do when a member comes to them with a problem? And how do they approach prospective members regarding joining up? We find out.
Northern Mining and NSW Energy Vice President Jeff Drayton has thrown his hat in the ring for the crucial 22 May Upper Hunter by-election in NSW. He explains why he’s running and the first thing he’ll do if he’s elected.
In 1963 one woman took down a massive mining company armed only with a bottle of water. This is her story.
The WA Coal Mining Industry is centred on the town of Collie in the South West of the state - the local mines and power stations have been keeping the lights on in WA for generations. Collie Coal Mining has an incredible history - and they’ve been celebrating that history recently. They’ve got a underground coal mine replica, virtual reality shovel diggers so aspiring miners can put on a headset and try their skills, and they have just unveiled a bronze life size replica of a pit pony - a sight ...
Mining and energy industries have traditionally been among the most male-dominated in Australia. But women’s numbers have been growing in our workplaces and importantly, in the Union. There are now more women workplace leaders than ever in the Mining and Energy Union. This episode we meet some of the women delegates to the National Convention at the NSW hub in Cessnock to find out what makes them tick.
Nic’s 200 tonne truck burst into flame underneath him one winter’s day back in 2018, and he was lucky to escape with just a few burns. He relives the story and we work out what we can learn from the incident and the subsequent rescue. Do you have a story of a close call like Nic’s? We’d love to hear it - email us at [email protected]
How do good EAs get made? And what about bad ones? Find out how labour hire companies use dodgy EAs to remove members’ right to strike and deny them permanent jobs & proper pay.
We are going to end the year on the podcast with some inspiration from union legend, Tom McDonald on how to win a blue.
It's been 1 year since Christmas came early for members at Boggabri Coal. In the winter of 2019 they’d had enough of the mine owner’s attempts to drive down wages & conditions. So they began 4 months of stoppages and won 12% over 4 years, a $4000 sign on bonus and set new standards for working conditions in the Gunnedah Basin. But what are the lessons other members can learn from their victory?
BHP’s dodgy Operations Services agreements have been binned by the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission. But now the hard work begins of working together to achieve a better deal for OS workers. Keep up to date with issues affecting OS workers at thinkfairbhp.com.au
Could a new pilot hydrogen plant in Victoria make Australia the Saudi Arabia of Hydrogen Fuel? And at the same time extend the life of coal mines around the county? It’s an exciting prospect - let's find out more from Victorian District President Geoff Dyke and Tony Wood Energy Program Director with The Grattan Institute. At 6.36 BHP’s in house labour hire company Operations Services is dudding miners at the Mt Arthur open cut in the Hunter - Vice President of the Northern District Jeff Drayton ...
Our big campaign to protect casual coal miners’ recent legal win kicks off our September episode - if you haven’t emailed your local MP yet head to protectcasualminers.com.au At 3:25 We learn how BHP’s in house labour hire company Operations Services has stopped offering maintenance workers in its Mackay workshop trades apprenticeships, leaving some very disappointed youngsters. At 7:08 We head to the Pilbara in the North West of WA and follow union organiser Yola Bakker around with a mic to cap...
