THE future for 400 sacked workers from the Collinsville mine is still unclear this week, and so is the future of the town they live in. On Saturday, Glencore shut the mine down after 100 years of continuous operation. Earlier in the year it decided to run the mine itself when its contract with Thiess ended in August. While the company originally agreed to take on all the Thiess workers, it then fell out with the union because they wanted the same employment agreement for workers but Glencore wanted a new one drawn up or individual contracts. Glencore says it will reopen the mine at some point in the future, but no former workers are guaranteed a job or an interview. A town meeting will be held tomorrow night, and local resident Donna Bulloch says she is expecting a big turnout. “The town is in shock; it is rippling through the community,” she told the WINO. “People are sitting on their hands, they don’t know what to do.” It’s not just the workers themselves. Local businesses are throwing their hands up in the air in exasperation. “The local coffee shop stayed open from 9am to 4pm one day last week and did not have a single customer all day,” said Ms Bulloch. “She is thinking about closing down, but she doesn’t know to do it permanently or wait until the mine restarts. Her husband is also one of the retrenched miners.” Ms Bulloch said while the union will talk at the town meeting, Glencore will not. “We have had no communication with them at all. We have absolutely no idea what is going on. There is no conversation.” STORY - COURTESY - SHIFT MINER
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 07:54:00 +0000
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