Australia union threatens strikes at BHP mine-paper (AFX)

CANBERRA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A major Australian union is threatening strikes in the iron-ore rich Pilbara of Western Australia, targeting the world's biggest miner BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) , the West Australian paper said on Friday. The report comes as Rio Tinto Ltd (Munich: 855018 - news) , the world's second-largest iron ore miner, faces a 12-hour strike on Saturday by train drivers at its Pilbara region operations who want to force their employer to negotiate a union deal. The Australian Workers Union said it 'strongly favours' strike action to force mining contractor Henry Walker Eltin (HWE) to reverse its opposition to a union deal for its workforce at BHP's key Yandi site. 'Basically, that only leaves two options for industrial agreements and both of them are non-union. Strike action is something... [read full story]