BHP facing strike on Met Mines BHP Billiton faces strike action at metallurgical coal operations
Thursday, 26 January 2012 | 00:00
BHP Billiton could be hit by strikes at a number of its metallurgical coal operations across eastern Australia as employment negotiations with labour unions stall, threatening production by one of the world's biggest producers of the steelmaking commodity.
Workers at the BHP-operated Port Kembla coal terminal on the coast of NSW could walk off the job next week, while talks at the West Cliff mine, also in NSW, have stalled.
Delegates from three unions have concurrently rejected the latest employment offer covering more than 3000 workers at BHP-managed coalmines across Queensland. The workers staged rolling strikes late last year that dented output even as the mines were recovering from flooding that hit Queensland early last year.
Bob Timbs, district vice-president at the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, said if an agreement can't be reached at conciliation talks set for Friday, nearly 100 workers at Port Kembla will begin a one-week strike next Wednesday that would halt operations.
"It is going to be a pivotal meeting," he said in a telephone interview.
Mr Timbs said the union met with the company earlier today, but the two sides remain apart on staffing levels and an attempt by BHP to exclude some middle-management from the labour agreement. He said they have come closer on the issue of wages, with BHP offering an increase of 4.3 per cent against demands for a 4.5 per cent raise.
BHP manages the port on behalf of a consortium of mining companies, including Xstrata and Peabody Energy. The facility, about 70km south of Sydney, exports both metallurgical and steaming coal.
At the West Cliffs mine, part of BHP's Illawara operations in the Southern Coalfields of NSW, workers have voted in favour of a strike, although the company hasn't been notified of plans for any action at this stage and discussions with the union continue, BHP spokeswoman Fiona Martin said. A strike would involve almost 300 workers.
BHP is the world's leading supplier of metallurgical coal traded by sea. The Melbourne-based company produced 17.78 million tonnes of the commodity in the six months through December 2011, a decline of 2 per cent from a year earlier due to flooding that constrained mining and several months of rolling strikes by workers at seven mines owned with Mitsubishi Corp.
BHP said earlier this month that it was difficult to predict the extent to which industrial action would continue to affect production, sales and unit costs.
Steven Smyth, Queensland president at a unit of the CFMEU, said union delegates yesterday "knocked back" the company's latest offer. He said no further talks with BHP were expected at this stage.
The CFMEU, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Electrical Trades Union remain at odds with the company over issues including housing arrangements, the right of representation and site schedules. They suspended industrial action in December to continue negotiations.
Source: Dow Jones