Union wants BHP to pay extra super, $7.5k ‘mentor’ bonus, plus $10k ‘retention’ bonus and big salary bump

The full list of demands imposed on BHP by the Australian Workers Union can be revealed, with excess superannuation and fortnightly ‘mentoring bonuses’ being piled onto yearly $10,000 ‘retention bonuses’ and wage hikes. The AWU is targeting BHP’s massive Mining Area C and South Flank iron ore mining operations in an endeavour to reconquer the mining heartland of WA, buoyed by Federal Labor’s overhaul of industrial relations laws. The West Australian can reveal the union wants workers who are required to train other employees as part of their normal job duties at the two Pilbara iron ore hubs to receive an annual bonus, on top of their base salaries. The vast majority of BHP’s huge fly-in, fly-out workforce in the Pilbara earn six-figure annual salaries, train drivers for example on average receive upwards of $250,000. “Employees who are required to train, assess and mentor other employees will be paid $7500 gross per annum, paid in fortnightly instalments,” the AWU’s log of claims, obtained by The West, states. BHP should also pay each of the thousands of workers at the two iron ore sites 2 per cent more than the guaranteed superannuation rate — currently 11.5 per cent of wages — the AWU believes. Another set of demands revolves around workers being stood down during internal or external investigations. The AWU wants no reduction in pay during an investigation period, and reckons 10 per cent extra pay should be tacked on if the probe lasts more than four weeks. SEE THE FULL LIST OF DEMANDS HERE: The AWU first provided a teaser of its demands earlier this week, which included a $10,000 “retention bonus” each year for every worker, in addition to guaranteed pay rises. The collective bargaining agreement sought would see annual pay increases of either a flat 5 per cent, or WA’s cost price index percentage plus an extra per cent, whichever is greater. The AWU is also seeking more flexible roster options at the BHP sites, including employees having the ability to work two weeks on and two weeks off, instead of the current regime of two weeks on and one week off. The West understands that separately to AWU’s bargaining agreement push the Electric Trades Union and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union are gunning for their own deals with BHP. Changes by Federal Labor to industrial relations laws earlier this year have enabled the unions to gain a toehold into BHP’s iron ore operations, after decades of the unions effectively being frozen out from the Pilbara in the wake of the chaos and severe financial disruption they caused in the 1980s. BHP is not commenting on the AWU’s demands, but previously confirmed it received the list of claims. AWU branch secretary Brad Gandy said his members at BHP “aren’t happy” and want “fairer pay and conditions” across the board. “Our members in Pilbara work in an inherently dangerous industry, with shifts between 12 and 14 hours, that go on for weeks on end,” he told The West. “They work most of the year in extreme heat, in dust bowls a long way from their family and friends, they are pivotal to delivering BHP its multibillion-dollar profits year in, year out. “Wanting decent rosters and fair pay and conditions is not too much to ask.” The union action follows iron ore prices falling about $US50 per tonne since the start of the year as China’s residential property market withers. BHP chief Mike Henry last month said the union action could snuff out plans to boost its WA iron ore output from 287 million tonnes a year to 330mtpa. “Today’s iron ore prices are $US94 a tonne, and BHP says it gets its iron ore to port for under $US30 a tonne, it’s hard to believe BHP management when they cry poor and threaten to pack up and leave the Pilbara,” Mr Gandy said.

Union wants BHP to pay extra super, $7.5k ‘mentor’ bonus, plus $10k ‘retention’ bonus and big salary bump

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