Update: BHP Group Workers to Strike at Western Australian Operations on July 16; Shares Down 3%

(Updates with a BHP statement in the fifth and sixth paragraphs.) BHP Group (ASX:BHP) workers at its Port Hedland operations in Western Australia will go on an eight-hour strike on July 16 after failing to reach a labor agreement with the company, according to multiple Wednesday media reports. The move, which The Australian described as the local iron ore industry's "most significant strike action" in decades, will include 236 of the roughly 450 employees at Port Hedland. The Australian Workers Union, the Electrical Trades Union, and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union have given the company a required five-day notice period for the strike, ABC News reported. BHP Group previously cautioned that a Port Hedland shutdown could cost the company north of AU$120 million in daily revenue.s. A company spokesperson told that the unions are demanding annual pay packets of up to AU$400,000, which is considerably higher than the national median earnings for registered nurses, school teachers, and fire and emergency workers. BHP remains focused on "reaching a fair, competitive and reasonable agreement with our people," the spokesperson said. Its shares.