Beneath Black Skies, a new documentary, explores the early days of coal mining in the Illawarra, and the way it has shaped the modern coal industry. Using the firsthand experiences of retired mine workers and officials, the documentary gives a range of perspectives to build up a view of the industry as it was.

In those days, miners were subjected to harsh conditions with little respite. Mines were not as strictly monitored as they are today, so miners were often exposed to gases and coal dust.

Retired miner Merv Haberley spent most of his holidays “down the coast fishing”, an escape from the squashed-in environment in the mines.

“You get that tired of being down the mine that you love the bush. I felt like I loved the bush more than anybody, you know?” he said.

“I was like the horses when they let them out about every six months … they’d go mad when they got out, you know, they seen the daylight and they’d run into trees and all.”

Pit ponies were renowned for their hard work in the mines, and were equally valued by the miners and the mine owners.

“If there was an accident in the mine they wouldn’t say ‘how’s the bloke’, they’d say ‘how’s the horse’,” Haberley said.

“The horse was more valuable than the bloke, they could always get another bloke.”

Working underground together, former miner Len Leffley said a friendship sprang up between miners and pit ponies.

“We knew we depended on each other. I talked to my pit pony like as if I was talking to an ordinary miner. Sometimes I’d go crook at him, they were fairly cunning, some of these pit ponies,” he said.

“I don’t know, probably pit ponies understood, I mean miners, they were always fighting for a fair go, and it looked like it’d rubbed off on the ponies, because they were that way too.”

The Illawarra’s early coal miners fought hard for improved conditions, such as injury compensation, shorter shifts and better safety precautions, organising strikes and protests to make their voices heard.

The first unions in the Illawarra were started by coal miners, and played a hand in securing better working conditions, including better recognition of the seriousness of pneumoconiosis, or the black lung.

In 1947, 2000 miners carried coffins marked “dust to dusted” to Parliament House in Sydney to draw public attention to the number of miners dying from the black lung.

Although miners suffering the condition were offered compensation, payments were made according to how “dusted” they were, and were often not enough to support their families.

Strike action was another way for miners to make their voices heard. The women of the mining towns played a big role in times of strike, offering support to the miners through their women’s auxiliaries.

During strikes, mine owners would often bring in non-union miners, or “scabs”, to continue operations. Scabs were despised by the union miners, and would be followed to and from work every day by women who would “tin pan” them, banging together pots and pans to discourage them from returning.

Retired mine manager Stuart Saywell said that, in times of strike, mining communities would band together to get through.

“Everybody helped everybody … what you grew in the garden you shared with the person next door and vice versa,” he said.

“But people were different then, everybody knew everybody. In fact, they knew everybody too well, they knew everybody’s business.”

The Australian coal industry has come a long way since the days of pick and shovel mining, when coal was produced in hundreds of tonnes, not millions. Although early miners faced many hardships, their hard work and good humour have helped to shape the coal mining industry that we know today.

To receive a free promotional DVD readers can call on 02 4285 3545 or download the DVD at www.whydocumentaries.com.au