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Unions striking at BHP’s WA port have finally lifted the lid on their pay demands, telling the Big Australian to cough up a $25,000 wage hike each worker to make the problem ‘go away’.

MiningCommentsPremium‘Pay up $25k & we’ll go away’: Unions reveal wage demands

Unions striking at BHP’s WA port have finally lifted the lid on their pay demands, telling the Big Australian to cough up a $25,000 wage hike for each worker to make the problem ‘go away’.

Adrian Rauso

Manual loading operation at BHP Port Hedland on 3pm Thursday. supplied

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
MiningCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Union-led strikes fail to cripple BHP’s iron ore port

Strikes have failed to cripple BHP’s Pilbara iron ore port, with ships continuing to be loaded despite workers downing tools.

Adrian Rauso

Mining workers are among the highest paid workers in Australia. So, why are they striking?

MiningCommentsPremiumWhat are BHP port workers really fighting for?

Battle lines have been drawn as workers join unions and mining companies fiercely resist change. So what does BHP want, and what new terms are today’s striking workers fighting for?

Alexis Vassiley

Delivering his first set of production results, newly minted chief executive Brandon Craig said BHP had finished the year strongly and had set several performance records.

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MiningCommentsPremium
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Strike action mars BHP’s record, new $1.3b mine plan

Strike action by BHP workers in the Pilbara today — the first in almost three decades — has marred revelations that the Big Australian has pulled in its biggest-ever haul of iron ore.

Daniel Newell

Brad Gandy Australian Workers Union WA State Secretary.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
MiningCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
‘I won’t listen to Cook’: Union leader striking against BHP

The senior Labor figure spearheading historic strikes against BHP has told Premier Roger Cook and any other political colleagues hoping for an end to the militant industrial action to get stuffed.

Adrian Rauso and Oliver Lane

AMWU WA state secretary Steve McCartney.

MiningCommentsPremiumStrikers defiant as BHP takes dispute to Fair Work

Unions will not allow the workplace umpire to derail planned strikes at BHP’s sole WA iron ore port, launching a final recruitment drive ahead of the historic industrial action.

Adrian Rauso and Jessica Page

A majority of about 80 members of the Australian Workers Union on Monday voted in favour of industrial action at BHP’s Port Hedland operations, adding to similar votes by the Electrical Trades Union and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.

MiningCommentsD-day looms for BHP strikes at sole WA port

A meeting on Tuesday between BHP and three militant unions threatens WA’s busiest iron ore port and the riches it generates for the State.

Adrian Rauso

Tim Day talking to a BHP worker.

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MiningCommentsPremium
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BHP iron ore workers side against unions in huge wage deal

Nearly 2000 employees at BHP’s two key Western Australian iron ore mines will be covered by a landmark enterprise bargaining agreement the mining giant labelled as a ‘win-win’.

Adrian Rauso

BHP’s incoming chief executive Brandon Craig

analysis
analysis
MiningCommentsPremium
analysis
Six burning issues facing BHP’s new CEO

Brandon Craig is a few days away from taking the reins of Australia’s most valuable company and he will inherit a sprawling list of fires to fight.

Adrian Rauso

Geraldine Slattery, BHP’s Australia president.

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MiningCommentsPremium
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Major update in unions’ bitter pay battle with BHP

The bitter pay battle that threatens to paralyse BHP’s sole WA iron ore port has reached a critical juncture today.

Rebecca Le May

Scarborough floating production unit will be among the facilities impacted.

EnergyCommentsPremiumAnother union fight cooking at Woodside’s offshore platforms

Support staff working at Woodside-operated oil and gas platforms off WA’s coast are considering industrial action in the latest workplace dispute to hit the resources sector.

Matt Mckenzie

Electrical Trades Union WA secretary Adam Woodage (centre) outside BHP’s WA office. Also pictured are ETU WA lawyer Kevin Sneddon and ETU WA official Rory Cumins.

MiningCommentsPremiumUnions give BHP final ultimatum before strikes

The three unions threatening to cripple BHP’s only WA iron ore port have banded together with one last demand for the mining giant to ‘meaningfully negotiate’ or face widespread worker strikes.

Adrian Rauso

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King on Thursday.

MiningPremiumKing hits BHP again as iron ore port strike threat grows

Federal Resources Minister prepares to confront BHP’s leadership over an ongoing Pilbara union standoff and an apparent double standard regarding worker agreements.

Adrian Rauso

INPEX'S Ichthys LNG offshore facilities

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EnergyCommentsPremium
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Inpex agrees union pay deal after strike ‘costs $200m’

Inpex has reached a pay deal with unions to end strikes at the Ichthys gas export plant that cost the Japanese company as much as $200 million.

Matt Mckenzie

Angus Taylor has warned of the bad old days when WA’s resource industry was crippled by industrial action, saying a looming strike at BHP Port Hedland threatens the State’s international reputation.

‘WA lost badly’VideoCommentsPremiumOpposition leader warns of global backlash from BHP strike

Angus Taylor has warned of the bad old days when WA’s resource industry was crippled by industrial action, saying a looming strike at BHP Port Hedland threatens the State’s international reputation.

Joe Spagnolo

Port Hedland is the world’s largest bulk iron ore export port, with total annual throughput of 577.7 million tonnes last financial year worth an estimated $115.8 billion.

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MiningCommentsPremium
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BHP workers at Port Hedland to strike after pay deal impasse

Unions have voted to down tools at Australia’s biggest iron ore port after a stalemate with BHP over a new pay deal, with the peak sector body warning the nation’s top economic assets were ‘being held hostage’.

Ryan Johnson and Rebecca Le May

Inpex’s'S Ichthys LNG offshore facilities

EnergyCommentsPremiumLNG workers threaten to ramp up strike action

Workers at Inpex’s Ichthys LNG export plant are planning to increase strike action to eight hours a day and implement work bans from Thursday, after talks between union members and the company stalled.

Sing Yee Ong

Iron ore in Port Hedland

MiningCommentsPremiumPilbara port strike could cost us $120m a day: BHP

BHP has not ruled out allowing an industrial dispute to shut down Australia’s most lucrative iron ore export hub in the Pilbara, warning such a move could cost it more than $120 million a day.

Rebecca Le May

New legislation touted as enabling the Fair Work Commission to work more effectively will also allow the Commonwealth to favour contractors with EBAs for Federal Government projects.

Federal PoliticsPremiumBusiness accuses Feds of ‘sneaky move’ to help ‘union mates’

Major changes to the way the Federal workplace umpire operates under a guise of efficacy have been blasted by industry groups.

Rebecca Le May

Inpex's Ichthys LNG offshore facilities

EnergyCommentsPremiumWorkers to down tools at WA gas hubs amid pay feud

The union said workers would strike for four hours on Tuesday at the gas export operation stretching from off the Kimberley coast to Darwin.

Matt Mckenzie

The port is Australia’s most crucial export hub.

MiningCommentsPremiumBHP braces for next wave of union ‘blitz’ in Pilbara

A fresh industrial dispute is looming for BHP in the Pilbara with a union promising a ‘blitz’ of site visits to judge the mood for a strike.

CME WA CEO Aaron Morey.

MiningCommentsPremiumStrikes at BHP port would cost 50 nurse salaries daily: CME

WA will miss out on mining royalties equivalent to the annual salaries of 50 senior nurses for each day unions shut down BHP’s only Pilbara port, the State’s peak industry lobby group warns.

Adrian Rauso

The port of Port Hedland.

MiningPremiumUnions threaten to choke BHP’s only port

Exports from WA’s busiest iron ore port could soon be throttled in a spectacular escalation of a union campaign to seize the State’s most important industry.

Adrian Rauso

Australia’s largest company has put a bargaining agreement covering about 1600 workers at its conjoined Mining Area C and South Flank mines in front of unions.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Iron oreCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
BHP close to deal with unions for 1800 WA workers

The Big Australian is on the verge of a massive enterprise agreement at key iron ore mines, marking a historic power-shift back to militant unions in the Pilbara.

Adrian Rauso