May 29 (Reuters) – Electrical workers at BHP’s Port Hedland bulk port terminal will vote on work stoppages following six months of failed talks with management, the Electrical Trades Union said on Friday.
The ballot follows six months of stonewalling, during which workers found employer representatives who were unauthorised to negotiate an agreement, unwilling to do so, or both, the union said in a statement.
The Electrical Trades Union comprises more than 70,000 electricians, apprentices, and electrical workers around Australia, according to its website.
Workers are seeking to resolve significant discrepancies in their labour conditions, having been hired on wildly disparate common-law contracts under two separate legal entities, both ultimately owned by BHP, the union added.
Workers are also seeking transparent classifications and criteria for promotion and pay parity with workmates performing the same work.
Union members are left with no choice but to resort to protected industrial action as the only way forward when BHP managers fail to negotiate after multiple meetings, said Electrical Trades Union WA Secretary Adam Woodage.
BHP workers across the Pilbara region were subjected to a pattern of behaviour that left lawful protected industrial action as the only way forward, Woodage added.
A BHP spokesperson said the miner is negotiating a new Enterprise Agreement with its Port Operations teams.
Port Hedland is one of the largest iron ore loading ports in the world and the largest in Australia. It is linked to a number of BHP’s mines in the Pilbara region and is a key export hub in BHP’s Western Australia iron ore supply chain.
“In the event of union disruptions at our sites, we have strong contingency plans in place to protect our people and ensure safe, reliable operations can continue,” the spokesperson added.
Shares of BHP were up 1.5% at A$61.45 by 0040 GMT, in line with the broader benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which was up 0.8%.
(Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona and Rashmi Aich)
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