Senior Labor ministers have thrown their support behind unions threatening to bring Port Hedland the nation’s busiest export hub to a standstill as part of an escalating industrial dispute with BHP.
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said she hoped strike action could be avoided but insisted there was nothing inappropriate about workers taking a stand in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. She argued that employees were simply trying to balance the “imbalance of power” between themselves and one of the world’s most powerful mining companies.
“They deserve every single cent of what they earn,” King said, noting the extreme heat, long swings away from home and the heavy toll the work takes on family life. “Because of the imbalance of power between workers and their employer, the biggest miner in the world, they need to work together… to enact their agency to negotiate for conditions.”
Her comments follow similar support from WA Premier Roger Cook, who on Thursday backed workers pushing for improved conditions as tensions with BHP intensify.
Unions have warned they are prepared to take industrial action that could disrupt iron ore exports from Port Hedland a move that would have significant national economic implications.
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