Workers in court for refusing rat infested living conditions
Today a court case began in Brisbane Federal Court, involving a group of mining workers were served with subpoenas recently over an incident occurring 18 months ago, when they refused to live in supplied mining accommodation they considered substandard. The camp was infested with feral cats and fleas, and the ground was overflowing with raw sewerage. The dispute with employer, Eagles Engineering, lasted 3 days until the living arrangements had been cleaned up. But it was not the employer but infact the Federal government that has decided to take legal action against the central Queensland mining workers on the basis that they’ve breached the Workplace Relations Act. The workers could face fines of up to $20,000. The Queensland State Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union or AMWU, Andrew Dettmar spoke to The Wire.