World’s biggest mining company to cut hundreds of jobs in WA

Mining giant BHP has confirmed it is shedding 300 jobs from its operations in Western Australia.

The world’s biggest mining company said on Thursday it is continuing to work through the details and consult impacted staff.

The affected BHP mining sites are South Flank, Mining Area C, Newman and Jimblebar in the Pilbara region of north-western WA.

A spokesperson for BHP says affected workers and trade unions were first informed on October 5.

“Like any business, we regularly review how we work to ensure we can operate safely, effectively and productively. 

“We are making some changes to ensure our WA iron ore business can continue to make a significant contribution to the Pilbara and WA and continue to be a major employer in the state.

“As we always do, we will seek to redeploy people into other roles elsewhere in the business where possible. We will be working directly with our people on what this change means for them.” 

Union officials from the said they would be meeting BHP executives on Thursday to learn more details about the job cuts.

In a social media statement, the Western Mine Workers Alliance (WMWA) - a coalition from the Australian Workers Union and the Mining and Energy Union - says it’s seeking to limit the number of forced redundancies.

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“WMWA is meeting today with BHP to understand the details of how many roles maybe impacted and likely timeframes for this process to occur.

“The WMWA will be seeking discussions on ways to reduce the number of forced redundancies and mitigate the impacts of this process for MAC members.”