WA Fighting From the Front

2025 has been another big year for the WA Branch, whether it was our Fight for Fair in the Pilbara with Rio Tinto and BHP, achieving a 16.8% pay increase for our DBCA bush firefighters, or the Offshore Alliance battling with Bechtel at Woodside’s Pluto 2 project.

The AWU has been on site more than ever before across Western Australia, employing new organisers, lawyers and office staff to provide more support to our members when they need it. We have taken the fight for better pay, conditions and safer workplaces on site, in the media and directly to the state and federal governments.

We also acknowledged AWU Legends like Phil Hill from Alcoa Pinjarra, Paddy O’Neill from DBCA and Guy Wroth from Albany for their service to our members and union.

AWU Union Delegates proudly stole the show and made headlines at the WA Labor State Conference recently calling on the Cook Labor Government to:

• Review the Enough is Enough report – fighting for our members’ rights to a workplace safe from sexual harassment and violence.

• Introduce a comprehensive Silica Dust monitoring regime and lower the workplace exposure limit in WA’s mining industry.

• Back our members in shipbuilding by reaffirming our commitment to AUKUS, the $12 billion investment in the Henderson Precinct upgrade and Mogami-class frigate projects which will transform our skills, productivity, industrial capacity and science and research capabilities in WA.

• Support our members in the Containers for Change scheme in our push for an industry-wide agreement to be negotiated with the AWU to improve the pay and conditions of all Container Deposit scheme workers.

• Protect vulnerable PALM workers by capping dodgy deductions from their employers to 30%, improve accommodation standards, improve access to superannuation for PALM workers, increase union involvement in the scheme and adequately resource DWER to protect all PALM workers.

Our Offshore Alliance members working for Bechtel at Woodside’s Pluto 2 are in the process of taking protected industrial action, after Bechtel attempted to remove the Alliance from bargaining, because they didn’t like our members’ claims. Despite their best efforts, Bechtel failed and our members’ claims are still on the table.

A special summer shout-out must go out to our DBCA Bush Firefighters who are currently battling blazes across our state north of Geraldton, in West River near Ravensthorpe and in the South West. Thank you for all the work you do keeping our communities safe.

I am sure 2026 will present many more challenges to our members but we look forward to getting our members a better deal at Alcoa, BHP, Rio Tinto, Gold Fields Australia, Water Corp, DBCA, Steggles and everywhere else in between.

AWU Retired Members BBQ at Kwinana Bea