00:02Unions have given the miner the required five days notice that they will be taking further
00:07industrial action next weekend.
00:10Now this comes just weeks after unionised workers downed tools for eight hours in a
00:15work stoppage at the port operations just a few weeks ago, and experts described that
00:21as a shot across the bow, but it didn't seem to have a big impact on the miner's operations.
00:27This next strike will take the form of a 24-hour ban on shiploading, and that will be followed
00:33then on the Sunday by a 24-hour work stoppage.
00:38Bargaining in a separate agreement further inland near the Pilbara town of Newman, BHP's
00:43high-voltage workers have also endorsed a 12-hour work stoppage on the same day.
00:48In a statement this morning, BHP has told us that it's frustrated by the lack of meaningful
00:55engagement from unions, and that unions need to focus on coming to a genuine agreement.
01:01Meanwhile, unions have told us that the miner is moving at a glacial pace and has had every
01:07opportunity to avoid this further industrial action.
01:10Before we get to that point next weekend, so a week from tomorrow, what happens before then?
01:16What happens next?
01:17Before then, the miner and unions will return to the negotiating table on Tuesday, and that's
01:23with the participation of the Fair Work Commission.
01:25So we may yet avoid these strikes, but if that meeting does fail to come to an agreement,
01:32we will see workers downing tools, and that will be the second time in this long-running dispute.
01:37And that will be the second time in this long-running dispute.
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