Mount Isa AWU organiser Bede Harding, who began his role in early February, said the union needed to build more local numbers to increase its influence at  worksites including Mount Isa Mines. 

“That’s not my target, that’s every union member that works on that site,” he said.

“What they know is the more people they have in the union the more power they have.

“That’s not power in terms of hitting the boss over the head with a hammer, that’s power in terms of having influence at the table being able to influence outcomes.” 

Mr Harding said the union’s membership numbers were not as strong as they used to be but could not confirm its current amount. 

“Obviously we’re not at that [former] level but we do have strong representation in a lot of the industries present in Mount Isa.” 

Union membership, participation and communication were necessary in creating a strong union. 

Negotiation carried less weight with employers without the members support no matter how good the negotiator was, Mr Harding said. 

“You could have Barack Obama sitting in the negotiation negotiating your agreements for you but the reality is unless you’ve got people standing behind you, the majority of workers sticking together, you are going to have dodgy and crap outcomes.” 

Mr Harding said the AWU continued to have a “good working relationship” with Mount Isa Mines. 

“We want to make sure the site’s productive, profitable, because that obviously keeps our members in work. 

“But we’re not there to be a mouthpiece for the mine. 

“They [Glencore] talk about commodities all the time, well my view and the view of the AWU is the most important commodity that comes out of the mine every day is people that work there.”