BHP shareholders back pay report as up to 300 Pilbara roles face cuts

BHP shareholders approved the company's remuneration report by more than 98% at its annual general meeting, while the company faces criticism over cuts affecting up to 300 jobs at its Pilbara iron ore operations. The report recommended increasing base payments to US$1,058,200 for the group chair and US$193,000 for board members.

The vote followed BHP's announcement of redundancies affecting South Flank, Mining Area C, Newman and Jimblebar. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the approval and the proposed base-payment levels. The meeting took place in Sydney on Thursday, October 22, according to streamlinefeed.co.ke.

The two accounts also give different profit figures and descriptions: the Sydney Morning Herald cites union secretary Adam Woodage referring to a $15 billion profit last year, while streamlinefeed.co.ke says BHP reported underlying attributable profit of US$13 billion for the 2026 financial year, up 30 percent from the previous year.

The Sydney Morning Herald says BHP announced last week that up to 300 jobs would be affected by redundancies. It identifies the four Pilbara operations named by streamlinefeed.co.ke: South Flank, Mining Area C, Newman and Jimblebar. The latter account says BHP confirmed cuts to approximately 300 roles across those operations on October 14.

The reports therefore describe the scale as up to 300 or approximately 300 roles; neither provides a final number of workers who will leave. Adam Woodage, secretary of Electrical Trade Union WA, objected to the job cuts and the board-pay increases.

The Sydney Morning Herald quotes him saying workers in the Pilbara contributed substantially to BHP's $15 billion profit and characterizing the loss of 300 positions as the company rewarding workers with unemployment. He also said the company had decided on a 10 percent increase that would put the chair's base payment above $1.5 million.

Those are Woodage's claims and characterizations; the report's stated base-payment recommendation is US$1,058,200 for the chair. BHP's explanation for its operational reviews was that it regularly assesses its operations to ensure they can work safely, effectively and productively, according to a company spokesperson quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.

The account does not provide a more specific rationale for selecting the four operations or quantify how many employees at each site will be affected. Streamlinefeed.co.ke frames the meeting around the reported profit increase and executive remuneration, while the Sydney Morning Herald foregrounds the shareholder vote, recommended payments and union criticism.

Both accounts connect the meeting to the planned Pilbara job cuts, but they do not provide the same profit measure: one reports underlying attributable profit of US$13 billion for the 2026 financial year, and the other carries Woodage's reference to a $15 billion profit last year. The sources do not explain how those figures relate to each other.