source : the age
Union officials have accused iron ore giant BHP of breaching the Fair Work Act after the company used security guards to remove three elected organisers from site at its Port Hedland Bulk Export Terminal as recent strike action dialled up tensions in the Pilbara.
However, the company maintained it had the right to enforce its rules when anyone entered its operations, and that aggressive behaviour was not tolerated in its workplaces.
The recent strike action involves workers from the Combined Ports Unions, made up of members from the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and the Western Mine Workers Alliance.
The historic action – believed to be the first in the Pilbara in 20 years – centres around wage discrepancies among the current workforce, with the unions voting for protected industrial action.
According to union officials, two ETU organisers and one AWU organiser were preparing to address a standing-room-only meeting of workers in a crib shed at the terminal when a BHP manager instructed them to sit down.
The organisers were unable to comply with the manager’s request because the crib shed in which the meeting was held was full, had only standing room available, and there was no surface on which to sit.
According to the unions, BHP management instructed security guards to remove the organisers. The organisers complied with the requests of the security guards, who did not use force in removing them.
Managers from the company then informed the organisers by email that the company had cancelled the remaining right of entry requests for the day.
ETU WA state secretary Adam Woodage claimed BHP had acted illegally and breached international laws on the right of free association.
“Union members fund this union, and they own this union,” Woodage said.
“My role, and that of the organisers I work with, is to perform our duty to the members who pay our wages, and we take that duty very seriously.
A BHP spokesperson said anyone entering one of the company’s sites was required to comply with site rules.
“Aggressive behaviour is never tolerated in our workplaces,” the spokesperson said.
“In the interests of maintaining a safe and respectful workplace, we have a responsibility to uphold standards of behaviour which are respectful of everyone on site.”
However, Woodage disputed the claims of aggression and said when unions visit worksites to represent the interests of its members they were civil, peaceful and efficient.
“We exercise right of entry by giving every notice that is required under the Fair Work Act,” he said.
“We obey the law, and we expect employers to do the same.
“The decision of BHP management to use security guards to effect the removal of workers’ elected representatives is a flagrant breach of the Fair Work Act, and of International Labor Organisation conventions on freedom of association.”
Port Hedland ships about $150 million of iron ore a day, with academics estimating BHP accounts for about $120 million of that.
Union supporters have previously cited pay rates at a Perth desalination plant of up to $240,000 as a benchmark for what staff in Port Hedland, about 1600 kilometres north, should receive.
Earlier this month, workers took part in two-day industrial action with a 24-hour ship-loading ban and continued with a 24-hour work stoppage the following day.
