AWU on the move in Western Australia!

In May, we once again hit the streets in Fremantle, with our most organised and diverse group of members proudly marching behind the AWU banner on May Day 2025. Thank you to every member who marched with us, proving we are indeed stronger together.

We have broken new ground, negotiating the Acciona Alkimos Desalination Plant tunnelling EBA, and signing up over 40 new members in the Civil Construction and Tunnelling industry – the first tunnelling agreement in WA since the Graham Farmer Tunnel in 1996.

AWU members working for DBCA are celebrating a landmark pay deal, achieving a 16.8% pay increase over three years. This hard-fought result occurred after members took industrial action against their employer, the WA State Government. Members won, after a month of action that would ultimately lead the department to listen to their concerns and offer a significant increase to their base rate. This increase brings their base rate of pay closer in line with other AWU-represented State Government employees.

Our members in the Western Mine Workers’ Alliance (WMWA) in the Pilbara have been engaged in EBA negotiations with BHP and Rio Tinto, with the big miners engaging in corporate lawfare in an effort to delay our members getting their fair share. WMWA will not back down and will always back our members’ rights to negotiate their pay and conditions.

The Offshore Alliance (AWU & MUA) has commenced our EBA campaign at Pluto 2 and continues to take protected industrial action across the oil and gas industry in Western Australia. This work is taking place on the back of the AWU applying pressure on the Federal Government to approve Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project, which was approved in May. We cannot meet our Net Zero targets without WA gas and our members who work tirelessly to keep WA’s light on, and industries powered.

The AWU continues to back our members and their mental health, sponsoring the National Suicide Prevention Conference 2025. At the Conference, AWU Officials shared their experience, expertise and learned from experts in the suicide prevention space on how we can best support our members, their mental health and prevent suicides on site.

A lot has happened so far in 2025, but there is a lot more to come!