Unions have won backing from senior Labor ministers over their threat to bring the nation’s busiest export port to a standstill with strike action against BHP.
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said while she hoped it would not come to a strike, there was nothing wrong with unions taking action at Port Hedland in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Madeleine King says unions and BHP need to work together. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
“No-one likes industrial action, we know it’s disruptive,” she told 102.5 ABC Radio Perth.
“But sometimes because of the imbalance of power between workers and their employer, the biggest miner in the world, they need to work together, whether it be through unions or otherwise, to make sure they can enact their agency to negotiate for conditions.
“They deserve every single cent of what they earn. Those conditions are hard, hot, the swings away from family and friends are intense and it’s a real impact on family life.”
Her comments came a day after WA Premier Roger Cook offered support to workers.
“Stand up for your rights. Get the best wages and conditions you can,”
the premier said.
Iron ore exported from Port Hedland is worth an estimated $120 million a day. (AAP)
Unions have indicated they would be prepared to strike for prolonged periods if BHP continued to not bargain in good faith, a move that could cost the miner billions if they lasted weeks.
BHP last week claimed union action shutting down the world’s largest bulk export port could cost the company in excess of $120 million per day.
Prolonged action on the cards
Unions have voted in favour of unlimited rolling stoppages ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours, meaning the unions could shut down port operations indefinitely.
The ETU is open to workers going on strike for a week at Port Hedland. (Supplied: BHP Billiton)
When asked if they it was prepared to take action for a prolonged period, Electrical Trades Union (ETU) WA secretary Adam Woodage said the union would back its members.
“You can’t export iron ore without keeping the lights on and if we go out, if the electricians go out on strike, the lights go off and the ore stops,”
he said.
“If our members indicate to us that they want to go out for a week we will support them through that process.
“We’ll navigate those legal challenges that will come and we’ll back in our members every day of the week.”
Mr Woodage said the ETU would not rule out striking before a bargaining meeting set for a tentative date of June 23, but added it was unlikely.
Adam Woodage says BHP is not paying workers the market rate. (ABC News)
“It’d be remiss of me to put a date on what that strike action date looks like without having instructions from our members and I don’t have those instructions yet,” he said.
“I would urge on the side of caution. I’d say it’s unlikely, but it’s possible.”
Speaking on to ABC Radio Perth earlier in the day, Mr Woodage accused BHP of “not keeping up with market conditions” regarding employee wages.
He said the $150,000 to $200,000 per year wages its workers received in the Pilbara were not enough.
Unions ‘itching for a fight’
Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Aaron Morey said unions were “itching” for a fight.
“It will cost society millions upon millions of dollars a day,” he said.
Aaron Morey is worried about the economic impact of the potential strike. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
Mr Morey said industrial action shutting the port down would cost about $6.85 million per day in royalties.
“What we see from the actions of these militant unions is that they’re letting down everyone in society, whether they’re nurses, whether they’re teachers, who are advocating for fairer paying conditions with their state government.”
WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti would not be drawn on whether the state was concerned about port disruptions hurting the budget’s bottom line.
Rita Saffioti is encourgaing each side to compromise and make an agreement. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
“We encourage people to sit down and compromise and reach agreements,” Ms Saffioti said.
WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas said he was concerned about the potential action and hit out against the premier’s comments.
Basil Zempilas thinks people should be concerned about unions pulling a “handbrake” on the “engine room” of the nation. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
“He needs to stand up to [the unions] and send a message that this sort of action can threaten the very strong economy that he so proudly boasts about on a regular basis,” he said.
“Every West Australian should be concerned, in fact the whole nation should be concerned.”
Strong contingency plans: BHP
When approached for comment, BHP reiterated the same position from a week ago.
“We are negotiating a new enterprise agreement with our port operations teams,” the statement read.
“Our focus remains on continuing constructive engagement to reach an outcome that maintains industry leading pay and conditions while supporting safe, productive and sustainable operations.
“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.”
BHP would not elaborate on what those contingency plans entailed.
Strike could cost more than $1b
Senior lecturer at the UWA Business School, Caleb Goods, said strikes could cost an estimated $120 million per day, and drew comparisons to strikes within the oil and gas industry.
“Industrial action at Shell Prelude oil and gas … reportedly cost Shell over a billion dollars over a few months,” Dr Goods said.
A shutdown of the port in Port Hedland could do as much damage to BHP in less than 13 days of action than the damage that Shell Prelude workers caused in 76 days several years ago.
“These groups of workers are quite unique, I guess, in terms of how they can apply significant economic pressure to their employer that most employees just simply don’t have the capacity to do,” he said.
