Port Hedland strike to hit iron ore?

From the AFR:

An industrial dispute involving tugboat workers at Port Hedland is threatening to halt shipping of iron ore through the port, and disrupt Australia’s most lucrative export chain.

The Maritime Workers Union has been unable to agree on a new workplace agreement for deckhands on the tugboats, and in recent days the union has won permission to conduct a ballot of workers to gauge support for possible industrial action in the near future.

The Fair Work Commission is continuing talks with all parties today. Any strike will boost the spot iron ore price.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.