BHP’s Port Hedland workers to down tools after five-hour peace talks fall flat
Workers at BHP’s Port Hedland Bulk Export Terminal will officially halt vehicles on Thursday after mediation talks between the company and its union coalition failed to reach a compromise.
It will be the first time this century that unionized workers will agree to strike action in WA’s Pilbara region.
The move by the United Ports Unions, which includes members of the Electrical Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Western Mineworkers Alliance, will see members stop work for an eight-hour period on Thursday.
A spokesman for the United Port Unions said workers at BHP and their elected representatives held a five-hour bargaining session with the participation of the Fair Work Commission.
“No agreement was reached and a new session with the participation of the Commission was planned for Tuesday, July 21,” the spokesman said.
“It is the intention of workers and their representatives to proceed with the protected industrial action notified on Thursday 16 July.”
A BHP spokesman said the company had contingency plans in place to ensure operations continued.
“In light of today’s positive progress under guidance from the Independent Fair Workplace Commission and offers to provide ongoing support to parties, it is disappointing that unions have decided to go ahead with their planned strike on Thursday,” the spokesman said.
“We appreciate the commission’s swift action to ensure discussions continue.
“We are committed to bargaining in good faith and believe that involving the Commission is the most constructive, transparent and fair way to achieve the best outcome.
“As with any potential disruption to our business, we have plans to ensure operations can continue safely.”
Port Hedland ships about $150 million worth of iron ore a day, and academics estimate about $120 million of that belongs to BHP.
Union supporters have previously cited pay rates of up to $240,000 at the desalination plant in Perth as a reference point for what staff in Port Hedland, about 1600 kilometers to the north, should be paid.
ETU WA secretary Adam Woodage has previously said he expected the action to cost the mining giant between $40 million and $50 million, depending on productivity levels at the port during the strike.
Since the turn of this century, the Pilbara’s workforce has been largely non-union.
Hamersley Iron led the charge in the early 1990s. He took on workers at the legendary Tom Price mine by instituting individual contracts to increase productivity.
But unions and BHP began negotiating the first deal at WA’s Pilbara iron ore mines in more than a decade in 2024. Using the window opened by the Albanian Workers’ Party government’s amendments to industrial laws.
On Tuesday, WA Nationals leader Shane Love said the resources sector was the engine room of the state’s economy and any disruption to iron ore exports from the Port of Hedland would have serious consequences for regional jobs, state revenues and Australia’s economic prosperity.
“The last thing Western Australia needs is a return to the industrial conflict that characterized parts of the Pilbara decades ago,” he said.
More to come.
