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The Pilbara’s mining industry could face its first industrial action in 40 years, with the Electrical Trade Union threatening to strike if a deal to improve pay for up to 60 BHP workers is not reached.
Electrical Trade Union state secretary Adam Woodage said the strike threat is over wage discrepancies among the current workforce, and the union has taken the historic step of voting for protected industrial action.
“That’s what’s caused us to get to this point of our members wanting an enterprise agreement and wanting to have an equal, level playing field,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
“The Electrical Trade Union has filed for a protected action. Our members have voted on that protected action and have endorsed proceeding.”
Woodage said the potential strike action at BHP could be extended to other operations in the region.
“This will be one of the first of many to occur in the Pilbara,” he said.
“However, we are willing to be a force of peace in the Pilbara with companies that want to negotiate and achieve fair, reasonable outcomes for our members.”
In a statement, BHP said it had contingency plans in place to ensure that operations continue, but it was negotiating a new enterprise agreement with power workers.
The ETU stated the proposed actions would not be taken in any situation where the safety of workers or the community may be threatened.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Aaron Morey said the move to strike sent a worrying signal to global investors.
“This is a dangerous turn for the Pilbara,” he said.
“Industrial conflict and dispute doesn’t just hurt investment - ultimately, it hurts workers and Western Australian families.
“We saw this play out in the 1970s and 1980s when frequent strikes battered productivity and trashed Western Australia’s reputation as a stable and reliable trading partner.
“The legacy of that upheaval was massive investment into Brazil, creating an iron ore industry that today remains WA’s biggest competitor.
“By contrast, deunionisation of the Pilbara in the 1990s led to a golden era of investment and growth in the iron ore industry.”
WA Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas called on Premier Roger Cook to make a stand on the proposed strike action.
“We know that people working in the resources industry, compared to many other sectors in our community, are well remunerated and work in excellent conditions,” he said.
“We would like to see those people getting on with the very important work without the threat of industrial action hanging over those important activities that power the economy in Western Australia, and clearly provides so much for Western Australia.”
Zempilas said the state’s mining industry kicks in $10 billion in royalties annually and employs 130,000 Western Australians.
“Premier Roger Cook needs to send the strongest possible message that union activity that disrupts the engine room of our state, our nation’s economy, will not be tolerated.”
Deputy Premier RIta Saffioti said she encouraged both the union and the company to sit down and see whether they can mutually agree on a path forward.
“We always want both industry and the union to sit at a table and to find a path forward. That’s what happens across industry in other places,” she said.
