PERTH (REUTERS) - Workers at Australia's Newcastle port, the world's largest thermal coal export facility, plan to stop work for eight hours on Friday to protest proposed changes to their work contract that could hit working conditions and jobs.
The strike, in which about 220 unionised workers will participate, comes on the heels of a four-hour stoppage last week and is part of a two-week campaign during which workers plan to stage similar such halts, ranging from 8 to 24 hours.
If strikes continue for a prolonged period at the port - which ships thermal coal mostly to countries such as Japan, South Korea and China, they could trim bulging supplies in the region and boost prices of the raw material that have dropped 8 per cent over the past two months.
But last week, traders shrugged off the work stoppage and Australia's Newcastle spot index closed at US$87 (S$109) per tonne on Monday, down from US$87.63 per tonne a week earlier, data from online trading platform globalCOAL showed.
留言列表
{{ article.title }}