Rio Tinto Mine Workers Seek Improved Conditions, Annual Raise

The Western Mine Workers Alliance (WMWA) is launching a Majority Support Petition to initiate bargaining at the Paraburdoo operations of resources giant Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO).

Paraburdoo is located in Pilbara, Western Australia, and is one of 12 iron ore mines operated by Rio Tinto in the region.

The WMWA is a joint venture of the Mining and Energy Union and the Australian Workers Union. It seeks to rebuild “worker power in the Pilbara after two decades of aggressive deunionisation, which has resulted in inconsistent standards and conditions, without many of the protections of the east coast coal industry.”

In a Thursday (February 27) announcement by the Mining and Energy Union, WMWA Coordinator Shane Roulstone said that the petition "has been a long time in the making." The Alliance has made significant progress in building positive sentiment for unionisation since it was established in 2013.

“When we set up the Alliance just over a decade ago, so much of our efforts were dedicated to debunking misinformation from the companies about unions and showing them that we don’t bite," Roulstone explained. "Many of the workers we encountered had never worked on a site with a union presence or spoken to an organiser.”

He added that the alliance now seems to have a strong majority of Rio Tinto employees behind it. According to the release, workers at the Paraburdoo operations are split between residential workers and fly-in-fly-out workers, and both groups have separate concerns the union is working to address with Rio Tinto.

In addition to those concerns, under the petition, workers are seeking guaranteed annual pay increases as living costs continue to rise, especially those in the remote communities of the Pilbara. In order to normalise conditions between workers, they are also demanding pay equity and fair and detailed classification, as well as career progression.

The WMWA said that a day after the petition’s launch, Rio Tinto came out with a new compensation policy for flight delays, a key claim of Rio Tinto’s Paraburdoo workers. Although it was lower than what was asked for in the petition, the WMWA said it shows that the company recognises "recognition that Pilbara workers are finally standing up and demanding a fairer go."

WMWA is also bargaining with international mining major BHP (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) for an agreement covering its South Flank and Area C operations in the Pilbara.

In late 2024, Rio Tinto and BHP made headlines when class action lawsuits regarding sexual harassment and discrimination were launched, with the firm who filed them saying they had spoken to hundreds of women who worked for the companies and expected thousands to join the lawsuits. Both companies subsequently issued statements denouncing workplace sexual harassment and underscoring their commitment to employee safety.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.