Rio Tinto will launch a High Court action in a bid to overturn a ruling that opens the way for unions to get an increased foothold in Western Australia's Pilbara…The mining giant told its employees… that the company would apply for special leave to appeal to the High Court after the Full Bench of the Federal Court last week found a non-union agreement covering thousands of workers at Rio was invalid…But ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence last night condemned the legal move by Rio…"Rio Tinto and other multi-national companies operating in Australia need to accept the reality that collective bargaining is the foundation of our workplace relations system." [also refers to BHP Billiton]