BHP Australia coal mines vote to continue strike

Australian coal mines owned by BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd (TYO:8058) in the Bowen Basin area voted to resume their strike, momentarily stopped this morning,  right after Easter.

Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union district president Stephen Smyth told AAP workers plan to walk off the job again early next week if there’s no breakthrough in a proposed enterprise bargaining agreement.

“Our members are really, really angry with BHP […] ‘They don’t trust them and the sentiment at meetings this week was probably the most hostile I’ve seen towards the company,” told Smyth to AAP.

BHP Billiton and its workers have been bargaining for over a year, but have been unable to resolve their differences. The company has taken offers directly to the workers, but these have been voted down.

The jointly-owned coal basin, the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), is Australia’s largest coal miner and exporter.

The Bowen Basin contains Australia’s largest coal reserves and one of the world’s largest deposits of bituminous coal.

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