More workers join strike at BHP’s Port Hedland iron ore operations in Western Australia
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The company said on Aug 8 that vessels continued to be loaded, “with scheduled departures subject to usual port planning and tides”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Around 150 workers joined a strike at BHP’s Port Hedland iron ore operations, marking the first major industrial action there since 2000.
- The strike caused a 24-hour halt in ship-loading at the world’s largest iron ore export hub, affecting BHP’s daily shipments worth $80 million.
- Negotiations for a four-year bargaining agreement will resume on Aug 18 after workers return, with the strike not expected to impact rival miners using the port.
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SYDNEY – More workers joined a strike at BHP’s Port Hedland operations in Western Australia on Aug 9, a union spokesperson said, in the first major industrial action at the iron ore export hub in a quarter century.
On the second of the planned two days of stoppage, some 100 workers downed tools at the world’s biggest export hub for iron ore at 5.30am Singapore time, taking the total involved to around 150, the spokesperson said.
The 24-hour stoppage by the three unions of the Combined BHP Ports Unions (CBPU) on Aug 9, which represents some of BHP’s workforce of more than 800 people at the port, followed a 24-hour ship-loading halt on Aug 8.
Melbourne-based BHP, which ships some $80 million of iron ore daily through the port, did not immediately respond on Aug 9 to a request for comment on the strike’s impact on operations.
The company said on Aug 8 that vessels continued to be loaded, “with scheduled departures subject to usual port planning and tides”.
After workers return to their jobs from 5.30am (3.30am Singapore time) on Aug 10, the next step, the CBPU spokesperson said, will be to resume negotiations on Aug 18, seeking a four-year bargaining agreement with BHP, the world’s third-largest iron ore miner.
The union went ahead with the strike, the first of its kind since 2000, despite progress in talks between the parties on Aug 4.
The action is not expected to affect rival miners Fortescue and Hancock Prospecting, which also use Port Hedland. The hub accounted for 75 per cent of iron ore exports from the Pilbara region of Western Australia in 2026 to June. REUTERS
