‘Coal is a death sentence’: Protesters disrupt BHP AGM

‘Coal is a death sentence’: Protesters disrupt BHP AGM

BHP bosses clashed with angry protesters inside and outside of their annual general meeting on Wednesday.

Climate shareholders interrupted the BHP AGM, saying “coal is a death sentence, climate action now”, as they voiced their concerns about the mining giant’s expanding coalmining operations.

The protesters clashed with BHP following the proposed extension of a number of coal mining services including the Mount Arthur coal mine in the Hunter Valley.

Angry BHP shareholders have also questioned the payments the company will have to make in the light of the 2015 Samarco dam collapse in Brazil, as litigation continues in the UK and Australian courts.

In the first AGM since BHP reached a settlement of $US31.7 billion ($A48bn) over the Samarco incident that killed 19 people and severely polluted the Doce River, BHP executives were questioned whether the dispute was over.

Camera IconBHP clashes with workers over the same job same pay laws. NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia

Shareholders voiced concerns that hundreds of thousands of victims were still seeking up to $A70bn in further payments.

“We are going to continue to defend those claims. The UK action is currently under way in the courts and we cannot comment further,” BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie said.

Mr MacKenzie expressed his regret for the tragedy.

“The Samarco dam failure remains a tragedy and we are deeply sorry for the loss of life and damage it caused,” he said.

He said signing a deal with Brazilian public authorities last week was an important step but was unable to comment in detail about the class action proceedings in the UK and Australia.

The agreement provides reparation for the impacts of the dam failure and builds on the existing remediation and compensation work already performed by the Renova Foundation in Brazil that totals about $A11.9bn.

In total, the financial value of the agreement is $A48bn for the people, communities and environment impacted by the dam failure.

The Samarco disaster occurred on November 5, 2015, when a tailings dam failed at the iron ore mine jointly owned by BHP and Brazilian mining company Vale.

The resulting flood of toxic mud buried villages, contaminated rivers, and claimed 19 lives while also causing long-term environmental and social damage.

Over the following years, BHP faced intense legal scrutiny and public pressure to address the consequences of the incident.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters crashed the BHP annual general meeting to voice their objections on pay and the coalmining division.

The Mining and Energy Union voiced its concerns, calling on the mining giant to stop fighting the “same job, same pay” laws that came into effect last Friday.

Camera IconClimate activists crash BHP’s annual general meeting. NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia

It was estimated 500 mine workers meeting in Brisbane for the MEU’s National Convention this week will rally to send a message to BHP shareholders and executives that the company’s unfair work practices and use of in-house Operations Services for labour hire workers must stop.

“Same job, same pay is driving pay rises for labour hire workers as intended. It is also leading to mining companies hiring more permanent workers, as their financial incentive to outsource is removed,” MEU general secretary Grahame Kelly previously said.

“There is a consistent trend of hiring more permanent employees among our biggest mine operators, including Anglo, Peabody, Whitehaven, Glencore and BHP – some of these companies haven’t taken on permanents in over a decade.”

The union said the first same job, same pay order at Callide mine would deliver about $5m in annual pay rises to the labour hire workforce at that site, with several more orders anticipated to be made by the Fair Work Commission ahead of the laws taking effect on Friday, November 1.

The mining union was joined at the AGM by dozens of climate protesters who voicing their concerns about BHP spruiking its green credentials while selling coal.

Mr Mackenzie said the transition to net zero was important to the company’s future mining operations.

“We are very excited about copper as an asset going forward, as copper demand is expected to grow by 70 per cent. The fundamentals around decarbonisation, electrification and digital will continue to drive demand for copper.

“On the supply side, there just aren’t enough. The investment in new copper is just not going to be enough.”

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