STRIKE action will interrupt Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations for the first time in 16 years, as Australian Workplace Agreements expire and locomotive drivers earning up to $210,000 a year engage their union in a push for collective agreements.

Train drivers who are members of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union and employed by Pilbara Iron Ore and Hamersley Iron Ore voted late last night to walk off the job for 12 hours on Saturday, and have voted in favour of continued strikes of four, 12 or 24 hours in pursuit of their claims.