SYDNEY, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Workers will continue a two-day strike at BHP's Port Hedland operations in Western Australia as planned, a union official said on Saturday, after the start of the first major industrial action at the iron-ore export hub in more than two decades.
About 150 workers are expected to take part in the strike, which comprises a 24-hour ship-loading ban followed by a 24-hour stoppage on Sunday at the port, the world's biggest export hub for iron ore.
BHP, which ships some $80 million
worth of iron ore daily through the facility, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any impact to operations. It has said it has plans to ensure operations can continue.
Steve McCartney, Western Australian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, said its members - "the people that load the ships" - were taking action on Saturday.
"On the second day, on Sunday, all three unions are going to be walking off the job for 24 hours," McCartney said in the state capital Perth, according to an audio recording.
The three unions of the Combined BHP Ports Unions, representing a portion of BHP's workforce at the port of more than 800 people, are negotiating a four-year bargaining agreement with the world's third-largest iron ore miner. They opted to go ahead with the strike despite progress in talks between the parties on Tuesday.
About eight ships are expected to finish loading from BHP ports over the weekend, a source familiar with the matter said.
The action is not expected to affect rival miners Fortescue and Hancock Prospecting, which also use Port Hedland. The hub accounted for 75% of iron ore exports from the Pilbara region of Western Australia in the year to June.
BHP has been negotiating for more than seven months with the CBPU, which represents around 450 operators and maintenance workers, over a new pay deal amid record share prices and rising cost of living. The CBPU will next meet with BHP on August 18, the day the company reports its annual results.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton and Sam McKeith; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and William Mallard)
