Source : Perth Now news
Workers have shut down one of Australia’s most lucrative ports in a huge industrial action over pay.
Staff at BHP’s Port Hedland operations in Western Australia walked off the job over the weekend
A 24-hour ban on loading ships on Saturday was followed by a total work stoppage on Sunday.
The Combined Ports Unions says not loading ships could cost the company $120m a day.
It’s understood out of 450 staff members covered in the enterprise agreement, 150 of them were rostered on for the weekend, with almost all of them not turning up to work.
It’s understood no BHP employees were on site for mechanical or electrical maintenance on Sunday and all but two of the production workforce were off.
It’s claimed three people – two production staff and a supervisor – were left to feed three working ship loaders.
Sources refutes these claims, saying it was closer to 70 staff members who stopped work.
ETU WA secretary Adam Woodage said from the outset the union’s goal had been to make a deal rather than a mess.
“Workers have been trying for more than 12 months in some cases to negotiate an honest agreement that recognises the specialist skills, extreme conditions and personal sacrifices this work involves,” he said.
“They are on wildly disparate individual contracts that place basic conditions behind opaque company policy. They want a transparent, enforceable agreement that delivers the same pay for the same work and is competitive with projects around the country and the state.”
This is the second strike in a matter of months for BHP after staff walked out in early July.
A BHP spokesperson told NewsWire that vessels were loaded and departed on schedule even with the industrial action.
Impacts of weekend’s strike
BHP is estimated to lose $120m for every day Port Hedland is shut down, while the West Australian government will be hit with nearly $7m in lost royalty payments.
This is due to the importance of the Port Hedland site, which between the major miners ships more than 1.6 million tonnes of iron ore every day.
The industrial action is not expected to impact other miners in the Pilbara, including Fortescue and Hancock Prospecting, which also use the Port Hedland facilities.
Last weekend’s industrial action comes as BHP and the unions were unable to come to terms during midweek negotiations.
While unions say last Tuesday’s meetings were productive, substantive issues have yet to be resolved.
The parties will meet again with the Fair Work Commission on August 18.
A BHP spokesman previously told NewsWire the only thing the strikes would achieve was a further delay in an agreement.
BHP is offering workers a 16 per cent pay bump over the next four years.
