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Vol. 71/No. 46      December 10, 2007

 
On the Picket Line
 
Australia gold miners trapped
underground for five hours
SYDNEY, Australia—Gold miners were trapped deep underground in Western Victoria for almost five hours November 19. The 27 miners at Lihir Gold Limited’s Ballarat Goldfields mine at Mount Clear took refuge in two safety chambers following a rock fall that cut power and blocked the main portal. After several hours they were lifted to the surface in a bucket lowered down a ventilation shaft.

Operations were suspended while a preliminary investigation took place. Corrosion in steel reinforcements in the walls of the mine was considered a possible cause.

The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) Victorian branch secretary, Cesar Melhem, raised concerns about Lihir’s safety standards. According to the Australian about 10 of the 180 miners belong to the union. Melhem said that for the last year the union has been denied entry to the mine to raise safety issues.

The union had raised concerns following a blasting incident on June 19 that affected the ventilation system. Workers entered a blast site before getting safety clearance. Melhem said that workers were told by a manager to “disregard that and go back into the mine.”

The AWU branch in Victoria is calling on the state government to investigate safety at every mine in the state and wants the Ballarat mine to remain closed until the union is satisfied it is safe for work to resume. Seven miners have died in Australian mines this year, including three in underground mines.

—Linda Harris

Toronto hotel workers
win jobs back
TORONTO—Two hundred hotel workers and supporters rallied November 10 in front of a downtown Holiday Inn here. Many walked off the job for 45 minutes to join the action.

The 135 workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 75, have been without a contract since the beginning of the year. They are fighting for a wage increase. Workers say they earn about $2 per hour less than other hotel workers in Toronto.

The rally also celebrated a victory. Two weeks earlier 23 workers who had been locked out in the course of the contract fight were called back to work. Management locked out the workers after 90 percent of the union’s members rejected a company contract offer.

The great majority of the workers were born outside Canada. More than 30 workers spoke at the rally in many different languages.

—Annette Kouri  
 
 
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