The miner’s long journey to devising a workplace deal for its in-house contracting division will drag on, after it was forced to withdraw a pact at the last minute.
by more than 60 per cent of relevant employees after mining unions successfully complained the proposed agreement had not been properly explained to employees.
BHP said the withdrawal of the workplace agreement for maintenance employees related to a clause that links employees to geographic hubs.Originally BHP wanted to be able to deploy workers nationwide, but feedback from workers prompted the miner to link each employee to a geographic location in recent years, typically in their state of residence.
“The technical objections deliver no practical improvement to the outcome that a majority of our 1427 maintenance employees voted for back in March, and will only delay further our ability to deliver the updated conditions and benefits and $5000 bonus payment they’ve clearly said they want.“We remain determined to keep working with our people to secure agreement and provide them with the conditions and benefits that they have already indicated that they would like to see.