Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant BHP Billiton has warned that a possible industrial action at the port of Port Hedland could have severe consequences for Australia’s exports and could damage the country’s reputation.
BHP iron-ore president Jimmy Wilson was responding to a threat from the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) that tugboat operations planned to down tools in a dispute with Teekay Marine.
“Industrial action by the MUA will stop all shipments out of the port and cost exporters like BHP, Fortescue and Atlas Iron around A$100-million a day. In addition, the state and federal governments stand to lose tens of millions of dollars a day in royalties and corporate tax revenue,” Wilson warned.
“Mining companies like BHP will not be able to make up the shipments lost during industrial action, and governments cannot recover the lost royalties and taxes.”
It has been reported that tugboat workers have voted to shut down Port Hedland for up to a week if negotiations on a new enterprise bargaining agreement were not resolved.
Wilson expressed his concern about the progress of conciliation talks between employer Teekay Marine and the maritime unions for the new enterprise bargaining agreements.
“BHP and the resources industry across Australia is working hard to improve productivity and remain competitive in a challenging economic environment.
“The MUA is pursuing an unacceptable high salary rise of almost 10% a year and an increase in annual leave without any link to improved productivity,” Wilson added.
He pointed out that the maritime employees at Port Hedland were already the highest paid in the towage industry in Australia, and said that their demands were “unreasonable” and “out of touch” with the current economic conditions.