More than half of the 450 workers at BHP's Port Hedland bulk export terminal in Western Australia are expected to strike for eight hours on Thursday, July 16.
The move would mark the first major industrial action to hit the resource-rich Pilbara region in decades.
BHP had failed to progress wage bargaining talks for more than six months, the Electrical Trades Union WA said.
"This is a historical occasion in the Pilbara," secretary Adam Woodage told reporters on Wednesday.
"Our members have taken on one of the largest companies in the world, the largest company on the Australian ASX.
"They've had enough of the glacial speed that BHP are moving in negotiations."
The combined ports unions, comprised of the Electrical Trades Union, the Western Mine Workers' Alliance and the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, are involved in the industrial action.
Union members "want justice," AMWU WA state secretary Steve McCartney said.
"They have been talking to this company for seven months without them moving an inch ... and they're sick of it,'' he said.
The unions say they are ready to continue negotiations with BHP.
"But if they provoke us, we'll have to take action, and if they won't listen, we're going to have to take more action," Mr McCartney said.
BHP said it was eager to keep negotiating constructively for a fair deal and make sure its operations continued running safely.
"Our focus remains on keeping our people safe, maintaining productive operations and reaching a fair, competitive and reasonable agreement with our people," a spokesman said.
Bargaining for BHP's port operations agreement started in October 2025, with eight meetings and another two planned.
About 577 metric tonnes were exported from Port Hedland in 2024-25, worth an estimated $115.8 billion.
The company said it paid $2.8 billion in state royalties and related government payments in the 2025 financial year, contributing about nine per cent of all WA government revenue.
WA Premier Roger Cook said he did not support the strike and wanted the unions and BHP to negotiate an outcome.
"The Pilbara is the engine room of the nation and I wouldn't be the only one who would be concerned about any disruption to industry," he said.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA said it was an extremely disappointing outcome but not surprising.
"Union leaders have signalled all along that they are itching to bring strikes and division back to the Pilbara," chief executive officer Aaron Morey said.
Unions left the Pilbara in 2000 and since then, iron ore production had grown fivefold, creating more than 55,000 jobs, he said.
''On top of that, more than $100 billion in ore royalties have been generated for the benefit of all Western Australians."
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry blamed the looming strike on the recent overhaul of industrial relations laws.
''This action is a direct result of sweeping federal industrial relations reforms," chief executive Will Golsby said.
"(The chamber) and others had warned that historic strike action in the Pilbara was a likely outcome."
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