Background and Causes for Industrial Dispute
Discuss About The Fatigue Risk Management In The Workplace.
The focus of this report will be on the employment relations. The report will be dedicated to the President of the Fair Work Commission of Australia. The topic of the report will be on the industrial dispute between the Oaky Creek Coal Pty Ltd and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union in the year 2017 and 2018. This has been a very important issue in the Australian context and it was the responsibility of the Fair Work Commission to interfere in the marketing matter and make a remedy to that. This is why this report will be presented to the President to outline the actual things that happened in the region. The industrial disputes have been very much problematic for the growth of the mining industry. In order to investigate into the issue more, the background of the organizations should be discussed and the reasons for the disputes should be assessed as well. The main things should be highlighted regarding this issue. The causes for the dispute are very important and these issues should be sorted properly in this context as well. The interference of the Fair Work Commission has been very important for the mitigation of this dispute and their roles will be evaluated in this paper as well.
The oaky Creek Coal Pty Ltd is a coal mine located at Central Queensland in Australia. They are liable for producing the coking coal (Glencore.com.au 2018) They have two underground operations along with a coal preparation plant. This organization produces the two premium quality, medium volatile coking coals. They are one of the best coking coal producing companies in the world. There are 900 employees in the organization (Glencore.com.au 2018).
This organization is said and believed to be the principal trade union in construction in Australia(Cfmmeu.org.au 2018). This organization has an affiliation with the Australian Council of the Trade Unions, Australian Labor Party and World Federation of Trade Unions. There are around 400 full time employees and the officials. This organization was being founded in the year 1992. The national secretary of the organization is the Michael O’Connor (Cfmmeu.org.au 2018)
The two organizations in the focus of this paper had a great dispute between them. It has been a notable fact that the Oaky Creek Coal Pty ltd has operated in the coal mining industry at Tieri in the Central Queensland (Morrice and Colagiuri 2013). The dispute occurred when the workers of some of the departments of the mine went on a strike of 48 hours. This had completely halted the operations of the Oaky Creek Coal Pty Ltd. They have been abiding by the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 properly for a number of years. The safety and health management system adopted by the Oaky Creek had indeed been very efficient. The Fatigue Management Policy had been in the centre of discussion in this issue (Lerman et al. 2012). This policy was about the working hours in the coal mine, breaks, rotation in the workforce and other things that are interesting about the fatigue management. However, the issues came in this context that the workers had to work for the 12 hour shifts (Hülsheger et al. 2013). These shifts had only two breaks and the breaks were only of half an hour after working for 5 hours and 9.5 hours respectively.
Overview of Oaky Creek Coal Pty Ltd and CFMEU
The ‘long wall’ had been their most elusive areas for production. Yet they did not receive the production of coal as they expected or up to their budgets (Hossain et al. 2013). This is why the situation began to deteriorate. The experts had thought that this occurred due to overwork among the employees. This is why the working hours had been diminished from 12 to 10 hours. However, the two half an hour breaks in the organization remained to be consistent. However, the duration of the shift had been shortened to 9.5 hours with only one break of half an hour. However, the situation arose that the workers had been somewhat affected and the organization needed to handle this difficulty with much effectiveness (Mundry, Gajetzki and Hoseinie 2015). The Union and the Oaky Creek came to a decision that this policy had been creating the difficulties in the working of the company.
However, the situation occurred that the Oaky Creek had provided an overall review of the Fatigue Management Policy. The situation turned out that the Oaky Creek wanted a cross-section of the employees so they could arrange for a risk assessment program on the fatigue management of the organization. The coal mine of Oaky Creek Coal Pty ltd had come to a halt. It is because the workers went on a long strike as the working conditions did not meet their requirements. They have not worked for almost six months (Van Dongen and Belenky 2012). The underground miner of the organization said that it was indeed very hard to being locked out of the work. They have also said that they did not want to be in that condition but indeed they had to be in this condition to get their rights (Hancock 2012). The workers had to go out of work because of the continuous strikes by some sections of the workers. The dispute had been gone through the mediation process by the fair Work Commission of Australia. The voting process had been run down in the latest Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).
It has to be kept in mind that the organization had been using the part time contractors to keep their production work moving. The workers on strike were not paid by the organization. However, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union had been paying the locked workers a subsidy wage. The locked out workers had been on the picket line outside the mine for a long time. The Fair Work Commission has been trying to negotiate the issues very carefully since the proposed 2018 agreement has been trying to convince the workers that they should accept this agreement with all the amendments done (Fwc.gov.au 2018). If they reject it this time also the outcome will not be that good. Some of their workers had said that his vote was against the agreement since he was very much concerned about the fact that the company was trying to gain the union representation in the company and trying to make their workforce very casual. This is why the production levels of the organization would surely decrease (Toossi 2012). The representative of the company also had said that the company had never taken the opinion or recommendations of the Fair Work commissioner. So they are not ready to accept the proposal as well. Another issue was found out in this context was the increase in the number of the casual and contractual workers. This had been very risky for the full time workers. The job security was at a great risk indeed (De Bruecker et al. 2015).
Role of Fatigue Management Policy in the Dispute
The workers had said if the number of the casual workers increased, it would be highly risky. However, most of the organizations are trying to appoint the part time or contractual workers so they can get rid of them whenever they will not need them. This practice among the workers has been very detrimental for the industry. Through this business report, it is conveyed to the President of the fair Work Commission that the officials should put much stress on securing the positions of the full time workers. This would really be highly beneficial for the company (Othman, Bhuiyan and Gouw 2012). The workers standing on the picket line has been using very foul language and even threatening the officials of the company as well. The relationship between the Oaky Creek and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union began to deteriorate much when the Oaky Creek Company had alleged their workers of the ‘in principle’ position that was related with the leaders of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. However, one of the most important things in the organization will be the interference of the Fair Work Commission (Fwc.gov.au 2018) The experts have said that the Fair Work Commission does not have the proper power to impose any solution. This lock out of the Oaky Creek has been considered as the longest lock out in the history of the Australian mining industry. The workers wanted the proper working environment and they did not get it after repeated attempts. This was the main reason behind their enragemen (Bice 2013).
One issue has been raised in this context that the national economy of Australia has not been greatly affected by this lockout incident. This has not harmed the public welfare as well. This is why Fair Work Commission has very limited rights to interfere into this matter and impose any solution by force (Wesso 2013). The legal steps have been taken in a large way but the situation has become so complex that the mediation process has not been able to solve the disputes. Still the economy of the country should have been greatly affected as well along with the societal norms (Azzellini 2015). The pressure on the workers has been mounting-be it psychological or physical. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union have been helping the workers immensely by paying them the subsidy wage. This is why they have been furious on the Oaky Creek Company.
Interference and Roles of Fair Work Commission
One of the most interesting facts in this context is the strike of the workers of the Oaky Creek Coal Pty Ltd. The trade unions of the mining industry have also arranged the rallies in support of the striking workers of the organization. The rally has been initiated for the Australian Council for Trade Unions and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. The members of these organizations have been striking for several issues like the working environment, working hours, payment issues and others. The less security issues and increasing the security costs have been the main agenda in this section as well (Winzer 2012). The unfair agreement proposed by the Fair Work Commission has been the main reason for their enragement. The workers of the Oaky Creek in Glencore have declared that this has created a hysteria within the organization as the entire workforce has been suffering from great uncertainty. This is the reason as to why the families of the workers have been affected by the situation.
As this business report will be addressed to the President of the Fair Work Commission in Australia, the most important issue in this context will be the role of the Fair Work Commission in solving the dispute between the Oaky Creek Coal Pty ltd and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. As this has been the longest lock out in the history of Australia, the organization will look to impose some remedies for the situation. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union have gone against the threatening behavior of the Oaky Creek (Fwc.gov.au 2018). This is the third time that the workers have constantly rejected the offers set by the EBA. The issues that have been in the focus for these offers are the retrenchment of the workers, all the processes that have led to the disputes, hiring the workers in a casual manner and representing the workplace in a better way. Glencore has been altering the rosters of the workers without even consulting. This has led to a huge dissatisfaction among the workers.
The Fair Work Commission has been interfering in this situation and they have proposed the new guidelines for the year 2018. However, the new guidelines have been rejected by the workers as well. They are in demand of paying their wages properly according to the industry standards. The working conditions and the wage issues have been highlighted as well. It is an important thing that the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union have not put any industrial action among all the 19000 workers they have across the coal and mining industry (Fwc.gov.au 2018) This has been very important to notice that the workers are enraged at these arrangements by the Glencore Oaky Creek. The anti-strike provisions of the Fair Work legislations have been properly made into effect by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. The Fair Work legislations have the power to isolate all the miners and provide the best working environment for the workers as per the demands (Korzynski 2013).
Impact of Dispute on National Economy and Society
The Fair Work Commission has embedded certain issues in this context and proposed to implement the new ideas for the mitigation of this issue (Fwc.gov.au 2018) The proposed agreement between the workers and the company Oaky Creek has not been accepted by the workers properly. The crisis going on needs to be mitigated very immediately. The ministers have said that the disputes have to be resolved indeed. If the permanent solution does not occur it will be very much disappointing from the perspective of the organization and the families of the workers as well. The honorable minister Craig Laundy has met with the representatives of both the parties of Glencore oaky Creek and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (Fwc.gov.au 2018) He has also urged his colleagues to play a vital role in mitigating the problems properly.
He also said that he had been very concerned about the results of the disputes and the picket line that it had on all the workers. The internal and external impacts have been so severe indeed. The families and the local communities have been affected very badly as well. The Fair Work Commission had ordered the lockout to be completely suspended. The lockout had to be suspended for three weeks that would begin on 7th of March. The new Enterprise Agreement will be drawn up for the employees to vote on. He wants all the mining workers to return to work the general operations in the mines to start again. This will be the best option for the mining industry and the families of the workers as well. These issues will have to be kept in mind and dealt with proper efficiency. Thus the Fair Work Commission has been playing a very important role in the ending the disputes in all the industries (Fwc.gov.au 2018) However, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union have encouraged for the payment of the employees. While the workers have yet not agreed to resume their works, the Fair Work Commission will try to mitigate these issues. The workers want to get rid of the issues of insecurity in the work and appointing the casual employees at random. The Fair Work Commission has urged both the parties to set all the differences aside regarding politics and request the Glencore Oaky Creek and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union to resume their operations.
The Fair Work Commission has taken up the issue in their hands and they want this problem to be solved very fast. However, some experts have opined that they have very little rights to interfere in this issue. It has to be said that the Fair Work Commission is the regulating authority in this matter and they do have the rights to take the final decisions in this matter. The workers want the best working environment and the payments in the industry. They want the operations of the organization to be conducted very smoothly. The Fair Work Commission had very quickly suspended the lockout. This is why many workers had rejected this completely. The EBA had been rejected by the workers (Fwc.gov.au 2018) It can be recommended that a need for change is very much inevitable indeed. The workers in the Oaky Creek will have to be banded together and this will be very effective for stopping the cut in the wages (Glencore.com.au 2018) These issues will have to be seen and the proper working environment should be established by maintain the fatigue management policy. The health of the workers will have to be taken care of as well. The President of FWC should keep in mind that they should not interfere into these things by their own. If the disputes are not solved by trade unions, they can take the responsibility of the resolving the disputes.
Conclusion
This paper can be concluded by saying that the disputes between the Oaky Creek and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union have been very important as well. It will be highly important for the workers to sort out the issues they have been facing and they would need to implement the certain policies for the better outcomes. The working should resume for the employees and they should take the suspension of the lockout by Fair Work Commission very seriously. These issues will have to be kept in mind to sort out the dispute between the two organizations.
References
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