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Abstract

Utah Development Company operates four open-cut black coal mines in Central Queensland—Goonyella, Peak Downs, Saraji and Blackwater. A fifth, Norwich Park, commences production in 1980. The company is by far the largest single coal producer and exporter in Australia. It is currently the second highest Australian corporate annual profit earner. This paper examines the events surrounding the renegotiation during 1978 of a company level industrial agreement with the mining unions. The background to the disputa tion, the participants, the issues, the stances and outcomes are identified and analysed. A specific aim is to present a case study of industrial relations pro cesses at the company level. A more general objective is to provide a con tribution to a further understanding of the dynamics of industrial conflict.

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Utah and the Mining Unions: A Case Study of Collective Negotiation at the Company Level

Abstract

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