Fortescue executive chairman Andrew Forrest says a culture of freedom and camaraderie at the iron ore miner means staff are unlikely to unionise, as the Albanese government’s workplace reforms bring unions back into the nation’s most lucrative export industry for the first time in decades.
Big miners such as BHP and Rio Tinto are concerned the reforms, which allow unions to lead wage negotiations even if they cannot prove their members represent the majority of the workforce, will stoke industrial action in the Pilbara iron ore region and threaten an industry that is forecast to ship $107 billion worth of ore this year.
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Primrose Riordan covers private companies and family offices from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. Primrose was previously a correspondent for the Financial Times and covered foreign affairs and politics in Canberra. Primrose has won multiple awards for her journalism including from The National Press Club, SABEW in the US and Press Gazette in the UK. Message Primrose on Signal: https://tinyurl.com/PrimroseSignal Connect with Primrose on Facebook and Twitter. Email Primrose at primrose.riordan@afr.com
Mark Wembridge covers resource companies for The Australian Financial Review, based in Perth. He formerly worked for the Financial Times in London and Hong Kong. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at mark.wembridge@nine.com.au
