Australian workers at four BHP-owned mines will soon vote on strike action, after the Mining & Energy Union (MEU) alleged BHP failed workers in its refusal to support permanent jobs.
The union has since filed for protected work action with the Fair Work Commission, though it is yet unclear whether workers will vote in support of consecutive full-shift stoppages, part-shift stoppages, overtime bans or other industrial actions.
The possibility of industrial action at some sites of BHP Group’s joint venture with a unit of Mitsubishi Corp in Queensland comes as prices slump due to weaker steel demand from China.
MEU Queensland President, Stephen Smyth, said that negotiations had not reached the point of discussing wage increases as the focus was on conditions, especially relating to job security.
“We had 15 months of negotiations with BHP, then another three months of negotiations assisted by the Fair Work Commission, but BHP refuse to do the right thing,” said Mr Smyth.
“With a steady decline of permanent EA jobs over the last decade due to labour hire, and the introduction of BHP’s in-house labour hire provider Operations Services; members are determined to protect and restore permanent jobs.
“There’s no question that job security is the biggest issue at BHP coal mines. Our members have seen jobs around them being cut and replaced by insecure, lower paid work.
“They want to protect permanent jobs by building protections into the Enterprise Agreement regarding EA job numbers, redundancy protections and career progression.
“BMA Central is the biggest agreement in the Queensland coalfields and it sets the standard across the wider industry. BHP shouldn’t underestimate the determination of our members to stand up for permanent jobs now and into the future.”
