Unions have forced BHP to the negotiating table and are demanding Rio Tinto do the same, a big breakthrough in their attempts to re-unionise the country’s biggest export industry after decades on the sidelines.

BHP, one of Australia’s largest mining companies, will need to negotiate under industrial relations changes introduced by Labor, despite assurances that the laws would not affect the sector. The move has already drawn the ire of the Minerals Council, whose chief executive, Tania Constable, said it was the start of a union power grab.