Rio Tinto Workers Push for Collective Bargaining After 20-Year Gap
Australia’s Mining and Energy Union (MEU) announced on Thursday that it will launch a petition at Rio Tinto’s Paraburdoo mine in the Pilbara region, seeking to initiate collective bargaining for the first time in over 20 years.
The petition aims to allow workers to negotiate a collective agreement that would:
- Guarantee annual pay increases in line with rising living costs.
- Ensure pay equity among employees.
- Establish fair and detailed job classifications to improve career progression and working conditions.
The move is also a step toward leveraging Australia’s “same job, same pay” legislation, which requires a collective agreement to be in place for workers to benefit from its provisions.
Australian unions have been testing the “same job, same pay” law, which mandates that labour-hire workers receive equal pay to directly employed company workers in similar roles.
- In June 2024, 1,700 labour-hire workers at three major BHP coal mines in Queensland filed for orders under the law.
- BHP had previously opposed the legislation, arguing it inflates wages and could put Australian jobs at risk.
- The Albanese Labor government enforced the law in November 2024, leading to pay increases for over 3,000 workers.
The union’s petition at Paraburdoo could pave the way for similar changes at Rio Tinto’s operations. However, Rio Tinto has yet to respond to a request for comment regarding the petition.
