How Might Multi-employer Bargaining Spread Through Resources Sector And Beyond?

On 20 March, we published the first in this two-part series about the legal developments being watched closely by resource sector businesses in 2025 that could significantly impact their labour strategies. With margins continuing to be squeezed due to the costs of non-labour inputs continuing to rise, labour cost will come under pressure as 2025 rolls on.

In that blog, we looked at two strategies used by employers facing these pressures – the use labour hire and workforce reductions. Relevant to those strategies, our blog examined the BHP / OS Production / OS Maintenance case and its potential impacts on the same job, same pay jurisdiction and a case before the High Court dealing with whether an employer must look to reduce contractor workforce numbers before implementing direct employee redundancies.