DUE to the nature of their work underground miners have a strong tradition of looking after their work mates.
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This also means they are usually loyal members of their union in this case the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).
So when the Glennies Creek underground mine was shut at the end of June the mine’s CFMEU Lodge was left with the problem of what to do with its members weekly donations.
For 15 years the lodge had been collecting $5/week from each of its more than 100 members and according to Lodge secretary Todd Hardy the money would normally be spent on funding equipment such as computers and phones or lodge clothing or making donations.
“Sometimes if one of the members needed help due to medical problems with either themselves or a family member we would make a contribution towards helping that family, ”he said.
“But when the mine closed we had nearly $50,000 in our fund and we decided to donate it all to local charities,” he said.
“We had some jokers say we could have a big farewell bash but everyone wanted to see the money go towards helping our community.”
So the cheques were written and the largest amount $17,500 went to Singleton Family Support which this year will be celebrating 25 years of service to our community.
“We think our work in the mine is hard but it is nothing compared to what those people do at that organisation helping families in distress,” he said.
Todd had seen a letter in The Singleton Argus from the group requesting financial support to enable it to continue its vital work.
“What amazed me when I contacted Singleton Family Support was the fact not one person had been in touch to ask them how they could help so the Lodge was very happy to give them a donation,” he said.
Singleton Family Support manager, Natalie Sowper said the donation was a wonderful gesture from the Glennies Creek Lodge.
“We are faced with every increasing costs and our budget simply doesn’t stretch as far as we would like it to go,” she said.
“Unfortunately we have had to cut one family worker position and not offer free child care.
“Hopefully with this donation we can look at introducing some extra child care groups.”
The great thing about this type of donation is the group can choose which activity they feel is the most suitable for funding.
Much of the funding they receive comes with strict criteria on how it can be spent.
The other recipients of Lodge’s donations were Westpac Rescue Helicopter, Service, Mark Hughes Foundation and Ronald McDonald House (Newcastle) who each received $10,000.
Spending time organising these donations has helped Todd and his fellow Lodge members handle very tough time in their lives.
Todd had worked at Vale’s Integra (Glennies Creek) underground for 15 years having moved to Singleton from Gunnedah 20 years ago.
He spent five years at South Bulga mine before starting at Glennies Creek and many of his Lodge members had worked at the mine for a similar period.
“We had a great workforce at that mine and many of us are struggling first to find any work locally and second we are finding it hard not meeting our work mates each day,” he said.
“You spend a lot of time with each other over the years working every day together and there is no doubt we are all struggling with the change in our working lives.”
Commenting on what happened at his pit Todd said when prices jumped management started to believe those prices would last forever.
“We ended up with too few actual miners and too many managers and when prices fell that left us very vulnerable,” he said.
“There is still plenty of coal left to be mined probably enough for another 15 years production but whether that coal comes out of ground in the future is a question no one knows at the moment.”
He has seen tough times in the industry before but feels for the younger workers who have only known the good times.
“Up in Gunnedah we were put on and off three or four times due to market forces but really since 1993/94 the industry has been growing and no one was being retrenched,” he said.
“Today all we are hearing is mines cutting production or in Vale’s case closing,” he said.
As to his future Todd said having worked underground for 20 years his skills are really good for that job but perhaps not what is required in the broader workforce.
Asked if he would head back over the range for work he smiles saying he might have to but his wife Sharon said he would have to go alone.
“I guess like plenty of other mineworkers we will just have to apply for any jobs and see what happens,” he adds philosophically.
Singleton Family Support will be holding a celebration on Tuesday September 2 to mark its 25th birthday.
The event will take place at its facility next to Community Health starting at 10:30am with a free barbecue lunch from 11:30am.