LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

ACTU leaders to step down this year

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Jul-26

ACTU secretary Sally McManus will step down in August, while president Michele O’Neil will retire at the end of the year. McManus and O’Neil were elected in 2017 and 2018 respectively, and the two are the longest serving ACTU leadership team since 1969. The ACTU has secured 47 new workers’ rights under their leadership, and they have been credited with the announcement last week by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s that a specialist industrial relations court will be resurrected; neither of the two have any interest in going into politics.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Unions’ air war about power, payback

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 15 : 22-Jul-26

The Transport Workers’ Union will use Labor’s upcoming national conference to push for a ‘Safe and Secure Skies Commission’ to be established. Amongst other things, proposed aviation oversight body would have the power to cap executive pay and bonuses in the sector and hold both airlines and airports to account for safety and fairness. However, the Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia’s national secretary Teri O’Toole and the Australian & International Pilots Association’s president Andrew Marshall contend that a new industry oversight body is not necessary. O’Toole says the proposal is merely a "blatant power grab" by the TWU.

CORPORATES
TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, FLIGHT ATTENDANTS’ ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL PILOTS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

BHP lies exposed by union lobbying

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 22-Jul-26

BHP held further Fair Work Commission-mediated talks with a coalition of unions yesterday, in the wake of last week’s eight-hour work stoppage at its Port Hedland iron ore export hub. A BHP spokesman has indicated that its focus is on making constructive progress towards "fair and reasonable" workplace agreements. The industrial action is being headed by the Electrical Trades Union, which has written to large institutional investors and proxy advisers to warn them of "material risks" arising from BHP’s approach to industrial relations in the Pilbara.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Unions to stage fun fair at port strike

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 15 : 15-Jul-26

BHP and a coalition of unions held talks in the Fair Work Commission yesterday, in a bid to avert industrial action at the resources group’s Port Hedland iron ore export hub. However, the unions have advised that they intend to proceed with protected industrial action tomorrow, after failing to reach an agreement with BHP. Members of the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and the Australian Workers’ Union will go on strike for eight hours. The unions have ruled out establishing a picket line at BHP’s Port Hedland facilities and will not prevent non-union ‘strikebreakers’ from accessing the site. They will instead hold a family-friendly protest, which will include a barbecue and face painting.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Workers back strike option at BHP’s Port Hedland hub

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 7-Jul-26

The Australian Workers Union’s ballot on protected industrial action has been supported by about 97 per cent of its members at BHP’s iron ore export hub in the Pilbara. The AWU voted to join with several other unions in threatening to take industrial action at Port Hedland; they will be required to provide five days’ notice if they opt to proceed with work bans. BHP shipped 290 million tonnes of iron ore via Port Hedland in 2025-26, and says it could lose about $100m worth of revenue per day if the port is shut down due to industrial action.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION

Allan referred to IBAC on Big Build deal

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Original article by Ryan Bourke
Herald Sun – Page: 11 : 7-Jul-26

The Victorian Opposition has formally asked the state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission to investigate Premier Jacinta Allan, amid a growing scandal over the Big Build program. The IBAC referral is in regard to Allan’s former role as infrastructure minister; it has been alleged that her office had personally intervened in 2022 to ensure that the CFMEU secured control of the Gap Road Level Crossing removal project in Sunbury. Shadow attorney-general James Newbury says Allan’s alleged intervention could have increased the cost of the Gap Road project by more than $2m. Meanwhile, Allan has again rejected calls for a royal commission into corruption in the Big Build.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT BROAD-BASED ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION

ALP snubs Greens, unions on teen super

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Original article by Thomas Henry, Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Jul-26

The Greens have moved to block a provision in payday superannuation laws that exempt businesses from making super contributions to employees under the age of 18 who work for less than 30 hours per week. However, the Senate has agreed to delay parliamentary debate on the disallowance motion, which has the support of unions and super funds. The ACTU’s assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell says it is unfair that young workers are not paid super on their wages, contending that doing so could boost their super balance by thousands of dollars when they retire. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black opposes the motion, arguing the need for measures that make it easier rather than harder to employ people.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ACTU, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Union strike at BHP port averted

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 24-Jun-26

BHP held talks with the leaders of four unions at its Melbourne headquarters yesterday, where it put forward a draft enterprise agreement. The unions represent about 240 of the 450 workers at BHP’s iron ore export hub at Port Hedland, who are currently employed via individual contracts. The unions have released a joint statement advising that while some progress was made during the talks, BHP has not yet addressed the core concerns of their members. The Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union recently voted to take industrial action if BHP does not negotiate a deal, while the Australian Workers’ Union and the Mining & Energy Union intend to hold a ballot.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION, MINING AND ENERGY UNION

Unions putting squeeze on BHP

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 11-Jun-26

The leaders of the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union expect their members to vote in favour of industrial action at BHP’s port operations in Western Australia. The outcome of the ballot will be known later today, and halting iron ore shipments from Port Hedland for up to 24 hours would cost BHP about $126m. The Australian Workers’ Union and the Mining & Energy Union are also threatening to join the strike action, while BHP is facing separate industrial action by high-voltage electrical workers at its Pilbara operations.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION, MINING AND ENERGY UNION

Status quo has shifted, union tells big miners

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 29-Apr-26

The Mining & Energy Union’s Western Australian state secretary Greg Busson contends that major iron ore miners in the Pilbara have had the upper hand in negotiations with unions for too long. He claims that the big miners cannot handle the push to re-unionise the Pilbara via the industrial relations reforms that were enacted during the current federal government’s first term in office. BHP is already dealing with industrial action by high-voltage workers who are members of the Electrical Trades Union, while the need to negotiate with unions over changes to its Pilbara rail fleet has stalled the rollout of battery-electric locomotives.

CORPORATES
MINING AND ENERGY UNION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION