Howard helps BHP make a killing

As Prime Minister John Howard was in the US with BHP-Billiton 
chairman Don Argus to tie up a liquefied gas deal off the 
Californian coast, back in Australia Pilbara families mourned the 
deaths of their loved ones at the hands of the mining company's 
speed-up operations in WA.

And as the WA Government announced an "independent" inquiry into 
BHP-Billiton's safety procedures the company unveiled plans to 
double the speeds of monster trucks at its operations and do away 
with "safety spotters".

The move to speed up "haul paks" roaming BHP's Mount Whaleback 
mine, in the Pilbara, is being opposed by workers from a range of 
unions.

BHP-Billiton wants speed limits increased from 30 to 60 kph 
around the iron ore pit, and to reduce the number of safety 
spotters, charged with preventing the crushing of human beings.

Prior to its latest move, BHP had already been accused of 
"putting production before safety" by ACTU Pilbara organiser, 
Will Tracey and representatives of the Australian Manufacturing 
Workers' Union and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy 
Union.

The accusations followed the death on May 2 of Port Nelson iron 
ore facility delegate, Cory Bentley, and incidents that claimed 
the lives of Boodarie tradesman, James Wadley, and Iron Ore Body 
25 apprentice, Ross McKinnon.

James Wadley sustained burns to more than 90 percent of his body 
when a gas explosion ripped through the BHP Hot Briquette Plant. 
Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft from Derby, Meekatharra and 
nearby Port Hedland had to be mobilised to transport injured 
workers to hospitals.

Three of Wadley's former workmates are still in hospital 
recovering from burns. 

Ross McKinnon lost his life when he was struck in the head by a 
"piece of equipment" at a mine, near Newman, operated for BHP by 
Henry Walker Eltin. 

Will Tracey said the deaths followed a "number of near misses" at 
the company's Pilbara facilities.

Safety plummeted

He said safety standards had "plummeted" in the five years since 
BHP moved to drive organised labour out of its operations.

In 1999, the resources giant lead the push to de-unionise the 
Pilbara, luring 40 percent of its workforce onto non-union 
federal AWAs (Australian Workplace Agreements), courtesy of 
salary packages $10,000 to $20,000 a year better than it was 
prepared to offer trade unionists.

On top, it whacked up super payments from eight to 14 percent of 
gross earnings.

Inevitably, there was a catch. Significant elements of annual 
earnings would come from company-evaluated performance reviews.

"The thing with these individual contracts is that they inhibit 
people from speaking out on safety for fear of being hammered in 
performance reviews", Mr Tracey said.

"Anyone who speaks out on safety is labelled a trouble-maker."

As Cory Bentley was being buried in Perth, company 
representatives began removing posters from Port Nelson that 
urged workers to higher production levels.

"Aim high, move fast" was their central message. They carried 
graphs outlining how far workers had fallen behind massive 
targets set by management.

"The countdown is now on", the posters read. "Between January and 
December 2004 the Port must ship 100 million tonnes of ore".

Workers at a mass meeting passed a unanimous resolution calling 
for an independent safety audit of all BHP's Pilbara operations. 
When James Wadley and Ross McKinnon were killed less than three 
weeks later, the state government signalled its agreement.

BHP-Billiton is one of the world's biggest minerals companies 
with interests across the resources sector. It stands to make an 
absolute killing from the deepening oil crisis which is bringing 
record prices for crude oil.