BHP faces first Pilbara strike in decades
Electrical workers at BHP’s (ASX: BHP) Pilbara mining operations have voted for protected industrial action, following more than a year of negotiations.The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says the vote is the first at a mine operator in the Pilbara in decades and covers 60 workers on BHP’s Pilbara high-voltage network.The workers are seeking a workplace agreement that covers annual pay adjustments, classifications, travel time, higher duties and on-call arrangements and would replace a patchwork of “wildly disparate individual contracts,” according to the ETU.“ETU members working at BHP in the Pilbara are highly skilled. They perform difficult, specialist, high-risk work,” ETU WA secretary Adam Woodage said.“For years they have been working under wildly disparate individual contracts, with basic conditions at the whim of individual managers, who have played favourites and built personal empires through the selective application of company policies.”WA CME chief executive Aaron Morey says the move, which opens the door to the first resources sector strike in the Pilbara in decades, sends a worrying signal to global investors.“This is a dangerous turn for the Pilbara. Industrial conflict and dispute doesn’t just hurt investment – ultimately, it hurts workers and WA families,” Mr Morey said.“The log of claims put forward by the ETU is not grounded in reality. It proposes total remuneration packages comparable to the WA Premier while also seeking to dictate rostering patterns and workforce composition. Simply put, the union’s demands are unworkable.”Following the ballot, covered workers can take work stoppages lasting between 15 minutes and 48 hours. Workers can also refuse permit issuance, switching programs, on-call and overtime work, high-risk work and attending management-led meetings.Mr Woodage said that unions wanted to be a force for peace in the Pilbara, but that could only happen if companies were willing to engage in genuine productive negotiations.“Today’s vote is the result of hubris by BHP. Their disagreement with the people who keep the lights on and the ore moving has reached this point because of a protracted, deliberate and short-sighted refusal on the part of the company to negotiate a reasonable, consistent agreement,” he said.“Workers put a position to BHP more than 12 months ago hoping to commence negotiation of a fair, reasonable, transparent agreement. The company has refused to negotiate on a single point.“This refusal left workers with no other way forward than to pursue protected industrial action.“It’s nobody’s preferred way forwards, but when it is the only way forward it is one that we are more than prepared to take.Mr Morey says similar strikes, frequent in the 1970s and 1980s, damaged WA’s reputation as a trading partner, leading to investment flowing into Brazil, creating an iron ore industry that today remains WA’s biggest competitor.“The conflict in the Middle East provides a stark reminder of the importance of the strategic importance of WA’s export industries,” he said.“Our reputation as a reliable supplier of minerals and energy to Asian markets is one of our greatest strengths as we seek to navigate the unfolding global energy challenge.“We cannot afford to damage that reputation through industrial disputes based on unrealistic union demands.”Mr Woodage says the door remains open should BHP wish to meaningfully commence negotiations.Proposed actions will not be taken in any situation where the safety of workers or the community may be threatened, according to the ETU.
