Reuters | February 27, 2025 |
Paraburdoo stockyard, Pilbara. Image courtesy of Rio Tinto via Flickr.
Australia’s Mining and Energy Union said on Thursday it would launch a petition at Rio Tinto’s Paraburdoo mine in the Pilbara region that would allow workers to initiate bargaining for a collective agreement for the first time in over 20 years.
Workers are voting on making an agreement that would guarantee annual pay increases as living costs rise, the union added, with additional demands for pay equity and fair and detailed classification to normalize conditions and career progression.
A collective agreement must be in place for workers to utilize “same job, same pay” legislation, which is likely to be the union’s next step.
The step comes as Australian unions test out this legislation, which unions say equalizes pay among labour-hire workers doing similar jobs to company workers, but which companies say blunts the ability for them to pay higher wages for better performance.
Unionized workers filed for “same job same pay” orders covering 1,700 labour-hire workers at three large BHP coal mines in Queensland in June last year.
BHP had earlier opposed the legislation, saying it produces inflationary wage pressures while putting Australian jobs at risk.
The Albanese Labor government enforced the ‘same job, same pay’ changes in November 2024, delivering pay hikes for “more than 3,000 workers”.
Rio Tinto did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the petition.
(By Shivangi Lahiri and Melanie Burton; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Rashmi Aich)
Rio Tinto resumes operations at Australia’s Dampier port after cyclone disruption
Reuters | March 2, 2025
Reuters | March 2, 2025
Rio Tinto’s Parker Point and Port Walcott at Dampier, Western Australia. (Image by Rio Tinto).
Rio Tinto said on Monday its East Intercourse Island facility at the Dampier iron ore export port in Western Australia had resumed operations after flooding from Tropical Cyclone Sean.
The miner, one of the world’s biggest iron ore producers, also said it had kept its full-year iron ore shipment guidance from Western Australia for 2025 unchanged at 323 million to 338 million metric tons.
Rio warned in late January that its first-quarter shipments could be affected due to disruptions in rail operations along the state’s Pilbara coastline caused by the cyclone.
The cyclone season in Western Australia usually runs from November to April.
“As the system rebalances and normal operations resume, an update will be provided in the first quarter operations review on 16 April”, Rio said in a statement.
(By Roshan Thomas; Editing by Jamie Freed)
Rio Tinto said on Monday its East Intercourse Island facility at the Dampier iron ore export port in Western Australia had resumed operations after flooding from Tropical Cyclone Sean.
The miner, one of the world’s biggest iron ore producers, also said it had kept its full-year iron ore shipment guidance from Western Australia for 2025 unchanged at 323 million to 338 million metric tons.
Rio warned in late January that its first-quarter shipments could be affected due to disruptions in rail operations along the state’s Pilbara coastline caused by the cyclone.
The cyclone season in Western Australia usually runs from November to April.
“As the system rebalances and normal operations resume, an update will be provided in the first quarter operations review on 16 April”, Rio said in a statement.
(By Roshan Thomas; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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