Wollongong mine to close with nearly 200 jobs impacted
Nearly 200 jobs will be lost, following a decision to close a mine on the south coast of New South Wales.
Transcript
00:00 Workers at the Wollongong Russell Vale mine were contacted last night by the operator
00:06 and told they planned to shut the mine down.
00:09 The mine itself had been subject to a series of investigations by the mining watchdog in
00:13 New South Wales, the New South Wales Resources Regulator.
00:17 They'd found a series of friction ignition events underground, that is underground fires,
00:23 and they believed safety standards had not been improved enough.
00:26 They issued a prohibition stopping work on the mine back in January.
00:31 At that time all workers, around 200, were stood down without pay.
00:36 Key mining unions in the area had been involved in attempting to fight in the courts to ensure
00:42 that pay could be returned to the employees, but the news overnight has really quite catastrophically
00:48 changed the situation.
00:50 We spoke to the miners as they left the meeting this morning.
00:54 I think everyone just knew what was happening from day dot.
00:57 How much of your personal leave have you already burned through?
01:01 We weren't happy.
01:02 We've all put our heart and soul into this place, so it was taken hard by everyone.
01:06 And then they said they might reopen, and then today there's nowhere shutting down.
01:11 The union says they will attempt to ensure all workers receive their fair pay and conditions,
01:16 and will continue to take the challenge through the courts.
01:19 There are main questions about how the mine will be rehabilitated and whether or not there
01:24 is enough funding left within the coffers of the mine itself to pay for all that rehabilitation.
01:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]