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Australia’s vital Pilbara mining region faces its first strike in 40 years next week, when workers at a port handling more than $100 million of iron ore a day down tools in the first battle of a war to unionise the West Australian mining industry.
The state exported $117 billion of iron ore last year, making it a major driver of the local and national economies and triggering union demands for wages of up to $240,000 a year for blue-collar employees in the sector.
Workers at BHP’s Port Hedland Bulk Export Terminal in WA’s Pilbara region will stop work at the facility for eight hours next week after negotiations failed with the iron ore giant over their drive for a unionised pay deal.
The move by the Combined Ports Unions, made up of members from the Electrical Trade Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Western Mine Workers Alliance, would be the first strike action in the region in around 40 years.
Port Hedland ships about $150 million of iron ore a day, with academics estimating BHP account for about $120 million of that, but it has contingency measures that will cushion the blow from any short strikes. 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.
The unions have given notification of an eight-hour stoppage at the facility on July 16 following inadequate progress in bargaining talks over more than six months over wage discrepancies among the current workforce.
The action will include workers across the company’s port operations and maintenance workforce represented by the Combined Ports Unions.
Electrical union WA secretary Adam Woodage said the company had every opportunity to prevent the stoppage but chose not to.
“This company has engaged in a campaign of US-style stonewalling tactics rather than negotiating the same kind of agreement that governs the conditions workers across this state at other companies – and that governs BHP workers in other parts of the country,” he said.
“This is nobody’s preferred way forward, but when it is our only way forward we will take it.
“I hope this sharpens the minds of BHP managers – and shareholders – on the importance of negotiating for a fair, safe and productive iron ore industry.”
The Albanese government has made it easier for unions to push employers to make pay deals since coming to power in 2022. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, WA Premier Roger Cook said the Pilbara was the engine room of the nation.
“I wouldn’t be the only one that would be concerned about any disruption to industry in the Pilbara, and it’s a tough place to work,” he said.
“That’s why the workers there earn their living, and we want them to be rewarded for that work.
“Clearly I want the workers and the companies, through their unions and their representatives, to come to a good negotiated outcome.”
A BHP spokesman said the company’s focus remained on keeping its people safe while reaching a fair and competitive agreement. He cited non-union pay deals the company had struck with staff in major WA mining areas covering about 1800 workers that had been voted up without industrial action.
“Every Australian benefits from a strong iron ore sector,” the spokesman said. “We are eager to keep negotiating constructively for a fair deal, while making sure we can keep operations running safely.”
AMWU WA state secretary Steve McCartney said his union’s members weren’t asking for anything unreasonable.
“They’re seeking fair wages, transparent career progression and enforceable conditions that recognise the specialist skills and commitment needed to keep Port Hedland operating,” he said.
“Despite enormous profits, BHP has spent more than six months dragging out negotiations instead of putting a fair offer on the table.
“Workers have shown patience throughout bargaining and BHP has responded with delay after delay, and that patience has now run out.
“This dispute can end tomorrow. The choice is BHP’s.”
Western Mine Workers Alliance Spokesperson Craig Beveridge said its members at Port Hedland are deeply concerned about conditions, classifications, career progression, pay and fairness.
“BHP has earned more than $100 billion in profits over the past five years,” he said.
“They can afford to listen to workers’ genuine concerns but have instead taken an arrogant and dismissive approach.
“Workers are determined to send a strong message by standing together and taking collective action.”
Curtin University’s WA School of Mines minerals and energy economist Dr Eric Lilford said a strike at BHP’s Port Hedland operations would cause major short-term economic disruption, but only if for longer than a 24-hour period.
Impacts could include lost export revenue, rail and port congestion, higher iron ore prices, and delays for international steel customers.
Lilford said any impact would not spread to other miners because they have almost no union presence.
“The broader Western Australian economy would feel the impact through reduced royalties, port revenue, and supply-chain slowdowns,” he said.
“The longer the strike lasts, the more severe the compounding effects become.”
However, while losses from a one to two-day strike could be recovered through inbuilt contingency measures, Lilford warned it would also have broader national and global ripple effects.
“A protracted shutdown of BHP’s Port Hedland operations, anything beyond 48 hours, would rapidly escalate from a costly delay into an operational crisis, disrupting rail, shipping, stockpiles, global supply chains and ultimately cashflow,” he said.
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