About 60% votes, from a ballot conducted on 20 October 2012, approved the offer according to the construction, forestry, mining and energy union.
The approval comes after a two-year industrial relations battle involving a workers’ strike at five mines in Australia, particularly Gregory and Norwich Park, which were severely affected.
BHP Billion operates the mines, in partnership with the Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation.
In April, BHP Billiton invoked ‘force majeure’ as about 3,500 union workers stopped work at the mines, rendering the company unable to supply coal to overseas contracts.
Industrial action resulted in a fall in coal production by nearly one million tonne across the five operating mines of the BHP-Mitsubishi alliance.
The Union was quoted by The Economic Times as saying that an agreement could have been reached a year ago had BHP not resorted to a fight as opposed to arriving at a deal.
