Sparkies vote to strike at BHP’s Pilbara mines in ‘dangerous’ move that could ignite mass union onslaught

Unions have officially stormed the gates of WA’s mining industry after workers voted to go on strike for the first time this century. Thirty-nine of 42 employees across BHP’s high-voltage network at its Pilbara iron ore mines have taken the historic step of voting for protected industrial action, according to the Electrical Trades Union. The voting decision covers about 60 workers. Work stoppages “lasting between 15 minutes and 48 hours” are being threatened unless BHP caves in to the demands. Such a stoppage would be the first on a WA mine in more than three decades. Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Aaron Morey labelled the move a “dangerous turn for the Pilbara”. “Industrial conflict and dispute doesn’t just hurt investment — ultimately, it hurts workers and Western Australian families,” Mr Morey said. The ETU, which filed the paperwork for the vote two weeks ago, is demanding significant pay rises and a large catalogue of extra allowances. These proposed annual allowances include $20,000 for nightshift work, $7000 for working in hot weather and a $6240 BHP contribution for private health insurance. They also want 200 per cent penalty rates for overtime and 300 per cent for public holiday work. The CME has estimated it would lead to salaries of about $400,000 per worker. “The log of claims put forward by the ETU is not grounded in reality. It proposes total remuneration packages comparable to the WA Premier while also seeking to dictate rostering patterns and workforce composition,” Mr Morey said. “We saw this play out in the 1970s and 1980s when frequent strikes battered productivity and trashed WA’s reputation as a stable and reliable trading partner. “The legacy of that upheaval was massive investment into Brazil, creating an iron ore industry that today remains WA’s biggest competitor. “By contrast, deunionisation of the Pilbara in the 1990s led to a golden era of investment and growth in the iron ore industry.“ Mr Morey said moving to a model of “cooperative and direct bargaining” saw the number of workers at iron ore mines grow sevenfold between 2000 and 2024 from fewer than 9000 to more than 65,000. The ETU’s move is the latest escalation of a broader union campaign to re-gain a foothold in the Pilbara’s iron ore mines after a long period of dormancy. Unions have been increasingly emboldened by the Albanese Government’s changes to industrial relations laws, particularly lax rules around ‘right of entry’ requests. Mining companies have warned that union action threatens the long-term viability of the Pilbara as an investment jurisdiction given its blue-collar workers are already among the highest paid in the world. Minerals Council of Australia chair Andrew Michelmore on Monday accused unions of a “targeted campaign against BHP”, which was stifling productivity in the nation’s most important mining region. BHP sites in the Pilbara alone recorded almost 900 right-of-entry requests in 2025 and 164 to March 10 so far on 2026, Mr Michelmore said — an average of 2.4 every day. “Now, rising disruption and escalating right of entry activity, risks undermining the productivity and reliability that it is defined the Pilbara region for more than three decades,” he said. ETU WA secretary Adam Woodage said that unions wanted to be “a force for peace in the Pilbara” and that BHP had dragged its feet on negotiating for a year. “Today’s vote is the result of hubris by BHP,” Mr Woodage said. “It’s nobody’s preferred way forward, but when it is the only way forward it is one that we are more than prepared to take.” The ETU will have to give BHP five days advanced notice before commencing industrial action. BHP said it had “strong contingency plans in place” to continue operations in the event of union “disruptions”. “We are negotiating a new enterprise agreement in our HV and power infrastructure services teams,” a company spokesman said. “Our focus remains on continuing constructive engagement to reach an outcome that maintains industry‑leading pay and conditions while supporting safe, productive and sustainable operations.”