10 December, 2007Unions ask questions at AGM about BHP Billiton's policies on industrial relations and climate change.
AUSTRALIA: Unions staged a protest at the Annual General Meeting of BHP Billiton in Adelaide on November 28, over the company's lack of commitment to working with unions that represent half its employees worldwide.
Glenn Thompson, Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU), attended the meeting and asked why BHP Billiton refused to attend a meeting of workers from around the world in Brisbane in October.
Mr Thompson reported to the meeting that management was invited by the International Metalworkers' Federation to address a delegation of BHP Billiton workers from around the world, but declined.
Tony Maher, of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), asked about BHP Billiton's plans to fund low emission coal technology.
The company's answers to the unions' questions were polite but evasive. On industrial relations it gave no commitment to international relations with unions, re-iterating that its labour relations would be determined by local conditions and laws. The company also would not say if it was prepared to do more to expedite carbon capture and storage.
Meanwhile AMWU union members demonstrated out the front of the meeting, distributing leaflets and answering shareholders' questions on these issues.
The action at the AGM followed a joint IMF and ICEM global unions meeting of BHP Billiton union representatives from around the world, held in Brisbane in October 2007. At the meeting delegates agreed to implement a combined strategy to improve workers' bargaining position across the company.
A webcast of the questions and answers at the BHP Billiton Ltd AGM in Adelaide can be found at this link: http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bb/investorsMedia/shareholderMeetings.jsp