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Feb 27 (Reuters) - Australia's Mining and Energy Union said on Thursday it would launch a petition at Rio Tinto's RIO.AX Paraburdoo mine in the Pilbara region that would allow workers to initiate bargaining for a collective agreement for the first time in over 20 years.

Workers are voting on making an agreement that would guarantee annual pay increases as living costs rise, the union added, with additional demands for pay equity and fair and detailed classification to normalise conditions and career progression.

A collective agreement must be in place for workers to utilise "same job, same pay" legislation, which is likely to be the union's next step.

The step comes as Australian unions test out this legislation, which unions say equalises pay among labour-hire workers doing similar jobs to company workers, but which companies say blunts the ability for them to pay higher wages for better performance.

Unionised workers filed for "same job same pay" orders covering 1,700 labour-hire workers at three large BHP BHP.AX coal mines in Queensland in June last year.

BHP had earlier opposed the legislation, saying it produces inflationary wage pressures while putting Australian jobs at risk.

The Albanese Labor government enforced the 'same job, same pay' changes in November 2024, delivering pay hikes for "more than 3,000 workers".

Rio Tinto did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the petition.

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru and Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Rashmi Aich)

((Shivangi.Lahiri@thomsonreuters.com;))