"Rio’s bullying and cultural woes blamed on union-busting past" 2 February 2022

Labour unions say their weak hold on Rio Tinto’s Australian workforce contributed to the “systemic” problems revealed in this week’s bombshell report into the multinational miner’s culture.

The notion that deunionisation of Rio’s workforce over the past three decades fostered “sycophancy” and an unhealthy reliance upon line managers came as institutional investors challenged other big miners to reflect on whether they too had a culture problem...

Rio was extremely successful at reducing union membership at its Australian sites between 1993 and 1996, during which time the vast majority of mine and smelter workers were shifted to individual contracts. Mining and Energy Union president Tony Maher said that push in the 1990s had exacerbated Rio’s toxic culture. “It meant workers were dependent on the approval of their immediate supervisor to get a pay rise or even to keep their job, leading to sycophancy, nepotism and fear of raising issues like bullying and harassment,”...

The Australian Workers Union said Ms Broderick’s report confirmed its industry survey last year of WA iron ore miners, which found one in five women had experienced sexual assaults and been explicitly of implicitly offered career benefits in return for sexual favours...

AWU national secretary Dan Walton said members didn’t trust Rio’s managers or supervisors to take action and “women told us about being threatened with ‘blacklisting’ if they pursued complaints of sexual harassment”...

HESTA superannuation fund chief executive Debby Blakey said she would be asking management of other big mining companies whether they were also presiding over a culture of systemic bullying, racism and sexism...“Senior leaders and boards across the mining industry should also be carefully considering if they should take similar steps to make certain that they are upholding their legal responsibilities to ensure their workplaces are safe and inclusive...