Later this week, the Combined BHP Ports Unions (CBPU) will ask the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to arbitrate a binding enterprise agreement for workers at BHP’s Port Hedland operations, following one year of negotiations.
“The dispute is deadlocked; there are significant … issues that are little closer to resolution today than they were at the start of talks,” CBPU said on 15 September. “There is no reasonable chance that an agreement will be reached without [FWC arbitration],” it added.
CBPU will ask the FWC to make an intractable bargaining declaration – preventing strikes at Port Hedland – and begin arbitration processes later this week.
BHP’s focus remains on delivering a fair and reasonable agreement for everyone at Port Hedland, a spokesperson told Lithos on 15 September. “[The company believes that] continuing constructive discussions at the bargaining table is the quickest and most direct path to an [agreement],” the spokesperson said.
CBPU negotiators rejected BHP’s latest enterprise agreement proposal – which the company first tabled on 8 September – at an FWC-facilitated meeting on 15 September, largely because of job classification concerns.
BHP’s offer included increased roster allowances and 17% pay rises over four years for most workers, a spokesperson told Lithos on 9 September. It also simplified pay structures, Lithos understands.
But the proposed agreement would have moved Port Hedland workers onto a single employment tier, hurting around 40% of covered staff, according to Electrical Trades Union Western Australia (WA) Secretary Adam Woodage.
“BHP’s strategy has been to divide the workforce by giving more to some workers and less to others; that’s not [on. Workers] see straight through that; they are resolved to get a fair deal for everyone,” Australian Workers Union Assistant Western Australian Secretary Craig Beveridge said on 15 September.
“[The company’s offer] recognises the important work our team does every day, provides greater certainty about pay, resolves issues raised by our workers, and delivers a fair outcome for everyone at port,” a BHP spokesperson said on 9 September.
CBPU’s planned intractable bargaining request follows months of industrial action. Unionised workers at Port Hedland launched two rounds of work stoppages in July-August, but did not substantially disrupt ship loadings. They can launch an unlimited number of consecutive stoppages under strike authorisations passed in June-July.
By Avinash Govind