Unionized workers at the Australian mining company BHP, which exports iron ore to Port Hedland, will strike on August 8-9 after the company and employees failed to make progress at the last meeting on negotiations at the enterprise, held on August 4.
The meeting was productive, but did not resolve substantive issues, the united unions of port workers — the Electrical Engineers Union, the Australian Workers Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said on August 4.
BHP has committed to present an updated corporate agreement (EA) proposal at the next negotiating meeting scheduled for August 18, a company spokesman said today. Significant progress was made at the August 4 meeting, which was mediated by the Australian Labor Ombudsman, the Fair Work Commission, BHP added. Industrial action
It will begin with a 24-hour ban on loading onto ships from 05:30 Eastern time on August 8 (21:30 GMT, August 7), followed by a 24-hour work stoppage from 05:30 eastern time on August 9 (21:30 GMT, August 8). About 150 employees plan to join the action over the weekend. The Washington State Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) estimates that a 24-hour stopover in Port Hedland will cost BHP 120 million Australian dollars (83 million US dollars) in export revenue.
,BHP has been negotiating a new EA with its marine staff in Port Hedland since October 2025, which will include about 450 employees, not counting contractors. According to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), up to 236 of these workers have the right to strike. About 1,200 people work in Port Hedland.
,Workers at the port of Hedland, last held a strike on July 16, but this did not prevent the loaded ship from leaving the port early on July 17, BHP said, despite the fact that about 63 workers took part in the strike. The port at Hedland is the world's largest iron ore export port and a key export hub in the BHP iron ore supply chain in Washington State. In July, BHP produced 21256.9 million tons of iron ore at its facilities in the United States 2025- June 2026 fiscal year. All of BHP's iron ore shipments to WA are exported through Port Hedland.
