Source : Perth Now news
BHP could lose $120m in revenue this weekend, with staff walking off the job in Port Hedland despite what has been described as “progressive” talks between workers and the mining giant.
Members of the combined Ports Unions – the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Australian Workers Union – are taking industrial action on Saturday and Sunday.
About 150 workers are set to take part in the action, as the parties strive to reach a new wages deal for the next four years.
Under the planned stoppages, there will be a 24-hour ban on loading ships on Saturday 8 August.
This is followed by a 24 hour work stoppage at Port Hedland Bulk Export Terminal commencing at 5.30am AWST on Sunday.
High voltage and power workers negotiating a separate agreement with the company will also undertake a 12-hour stoppage this Sunday.
ETU WA secretary Adam Woodage said the weekend’s strike is about negotiating a fair, transparent and enforceable agreement.
“After more than eight months they notified lawful, protected industrial action in pursuit of a fair deal, Woodage said.
This produced a shift – BHP went from not negotiating at all to insisting on a ‘false floor’ agreement that sets wages well below where they currently are.”
“They want workers to trust the company to make backdoor payments outside the agreement to top their wages up to current levels.”
BHP so far has offered workers a 16 per cent pay bump over the next four years, which they say beats the average 2.87 per cent inflation rate.
What are the impacts of the weekends strike
BHP could alone lose $120m in lost revenue for every day Port Hedland is shut down, while the Western Australian government will be hit with nearly $7m in lost royalty payments.
Despite planned disruptions, NewsWire understands that during previous industrial action in July, only 63 out of more than 1000 staff took part and shiploading continued and vessels departed as planned.
The various miners in the Pilbara export about 1.6 million tonnes of iron ore through Port Hedland every day, making it the world’s largest iron ore export hub.
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.
This weekend’s industrial action comes as BHP and the unions were unable to come to terms during midweek negotiations.
While unions say Tuesday’s meetings were productive, substantive issues have yet to be resolved.
As such, workers will walk off the job.
The parties will meet again with the Fair Work Commission on August 18.
“They (the workers) want an agreement that sets real, enforceable terms, and reflects the specialist skills, extreme conditions and significant personal sacrifice involved in remote iron ore mining work,” Mr Woodage said.
“We have tried to negotiate for many months and been met with deliberate stonewalling.
“Protected industrial action was the only remaining way forward. We want a negotiation, not a fight.
“But the sad fact is we have had to fight to even get a negotiation.”
Western Mine Worker Alliance spokesman Craig Beveridge told NewsWire last week BHP had time to engage in the bargaining process but continued to delay, distract and waste time.
“Our members are fed up and ready to fight harder and longer, if that is what it takes to secure a fair and reasonable agreement,” he said.
“BHP rakes in billions of dollars in profits each year, thanks to the hard work and dedication of our members. It’s only right that they receive their fair share.”
A BHP spokesman said the only thing the weekend’s strikes would achieve was further delays to “a fair and reasonable deal”.
“Our focus remains on reaching a fair and reasonable agreement. Our approach will deliver greater pay consistency across the workforce while locking in industry leading pay and conditions,” the BHP spokesman said.
“With another meeting scheduled and an updated proposal to come, we have made significant progress with the commission’s assistance and there is no need for the unions to continue with their planned industrial action.”
The union action over the weekend will not be like last month’s Port Hedland strike, with workers staying at home instead rallying outside the mine site.
