Sweeping industrial relations changes have inflamed fears among miners that the Pilbara will revert to its recalcitrant past. Unions want a seat at the table in the resource-rich region.
Workers drink at the Redcliffe Tavern near Perth Airport. The venue is a pit stop for fly in, fly out workers who have completed a rostered stint. Tony McDonough
The blazing January sun is still below the yardarm as a lingerie-clad barmaid serves $11.50 pints of icy Great Northern lager to three fly in, fly out workers at the Redcliffe Tavern, a nondescript bar near Perth airport.
Shifting their gaze from the $20 notes tucked into various lacy straps, the FIFO workers turn their attention to another burning issue that has, until recently, been out of mind for more than three decades: unions in Western Australia’s Pilbara.
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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/homesick-fifo-workers-earning-190k-stir-talk-of-pilbara-unionisation-20241204-p5kvxh
