UPDATE: BHP faces arbitration over Port Hedland wage dispute

Workers at global mining giant BHP's Port Hedland facilities in Western Australia are seeking arbitration after more than nine months of negotiations failed to produce a new four-year wage agreement, according to Combined BHP Ports Unions.

The union, representing approximately 450 operators and maintenance workers at BHP's Hedland operations, plans to apply for an intractable bargaining declaration – a mechanism permitting Australia's Fair Work Commission to set binding employment terms when negotiations reach an impasse. The prolonged dispute has escalated into industrial actions at Port Hedland,