Rio Tinto has staved off a union agreement in the Pilbara by handing out $25,000 pay rises while BHP launched legal action to curtail allegedly misleading union social media posts, as the mining giants fight efforts to re-establish widespread organised labour in the region.
The separate actions by the two major miners are part of a broader pushback against the reunionisation of the iron ore-rich region of WA for the first time in 30 years, which has triggered applications to force bargaining across the sector.
