Unions drag BHP to the negotiating table for a new deal covering more than 400 workers at Port Hedland

BHP has bowed to union pressure by agreeing to thrash out a new enterprise agreement covering more than 400 workers at its WA iron ore port. The Australian Workers Union, on behalf of its informal partnership with the Mining and Energy Union called the Western Mine Workers Alliance, said 74 per cent of the workforce under its remit at BHP’s Port Hedland export gateway signed a petition to bargain for a new agreement. “In a further development, the Fair Work Commission recently advised BHP that both the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union may hold majority support for the maintenance and electrical workforce at the same site,” the AWU stated on Wednesday. BHP plans to potentially consolidate the separate union bargaining actions into one enterprise agreement covering its maintenance and production teams at the Port, which The West Australian understands would encompass between 400 and 500 people. “We have advised our employees that we are starting the process to create a new enterprise agreement at our port operations,” a BHP spokesman said. “BHP will continue working directly with our people to deliver ongoing stability, high performance and some of the best paying jobs in the country.” The unions “welcomed” BHP’s decision to issue a ‘notice of employee representational rights’. “This is a significant and long overdue step forward for BHP’s port workers,” WMWA spokesperson and AWU acting national secretary Chris Donovan said. “We also look forward to engaging constructively alongside the ETU and AMWU.” Mr Donovan said there is “still a long way to go” for the unions to get a result. “Over the next few weeks, we will be developing our member-based log of claims before we get down to the business of negotiating for better pay and conditions.” Unions, which have been emboldened by the Albanese Government’s sweeping changes to industrial relations laws, are targeting BHP and Rio Tinto’s lucrative iron ore mines after decades of dormancy. In July, the WMWA had to make an embarrassing concession in its attempt to unionise Rio’s Paraburdoo mine site. The union alliance said it had enough signatures to force a majority support determination but later admitted it did not have the required numbers. Both BHP and Rio have warned unionism risks long-term investment in their respective Pilbara iron ore divisions. They argue blue-collar workers at these mine sites are the already the best paid in the world. BHP produces about 290 million tonnes of iron ore a year from its suite of iron ore mines in the Pilbara. Every tonne is shipped via Port Hedland. The Big Australian last week pulled trigger on a $US900m ($1.4 billion) ‘debottlenecking’ project at Port Hedland. BHP hopes the new car dumper and raft of port infrastructure will boost its annual output towards a long-held goal of 305 million tonnes. The $1.4b investment has been billed by BHP’s WA Iron Ore boss Tim Day as a “major step forward to boost our supply chain resilience, unlock capacity and drive productivity.” “The Pilbara is the engine room of the Australian economy, and this investment will ensure it keeps firing,” he said.