LAST STAND AT NYMBOIDALast Stand At Nymboida is the story of the historic work-in and takeover of the remote pick & shovel Nymboida Colliery in NSW by 30 underground mineworkers who refused to accept the sack and the loss of their entitlements when their employer said it would close the mine in February 1975. The revolt was followed by tough months of negotiations involving the Union, the Company, the NSW Government finally ending with ownership of the mine being awarded to the Miners Federation in return for payment of the company′s debts. Nymboida Colliery was successfully run by the Union and the workers through a company, Union Coal Mining Pty Ltd, for four-and-a-half years. The takeover of the mine by the workers saved their jobs and provided them with their full entitlements when it closed in 1979. These events triggered a new chapter in the industrial history of Australia with the Miners Union acquiring the lease in 1989 to a modern Hunter Valley coal mine operated today by United Collieries. It also led to the establishment of the Mine Workers Trust in 1991, which has returned more than $10 million in grants and scholarships to mining communities in Australia. Last Stand at Nymboida is the unique and extraordinary story of 30 coal miners whose struggle and ultimate victory is proudly stamped in the industrial history of Australia. |
