BHP Billiton Ltd reiterated its concern on growing unrests in the country's labour sector, which according to BHP Chief Executive Marius Kloppers have been prompted by the provisions of the Fair Work Act.

That piece of legislation, according to Mr Kloppers, has emboldened employees to sue for industrial action using the most trivial reasons, a sentiment earlier aired by his Rio Tinto counterpart, Tom Albanese.

"It has broadened the range of issues that can be put on the table because the regulations around prohibited content are not the same ... which means negotiations are more complex. In a tight labour environment like we've seen, that leads to fairly protracted discussions," the BHP chief was quoted by the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

Like Rio Tinto, BHP has lamented that workers may have been abusing the protection accorded to them by the Fair Work Act, which Mr Kloppers stressed gives more leeway in resorting to industrial actions that obviously hurt companies' operations.

The BHP chief added that for the most part, work stoppages do not accomplish anything except strain the connection between company management and its workforce, much in the same manner on what happened to Qantas Airways that resulted to the grounding of its fleet in October.

Concerns such as these, Mr Kloppers said, are pushing the company to rethink its business strategy, including the consolidation of its mining projects.

He admitted that amidst the growths seen on BHP's iron ore, copper, coking coal, potash and petroleum activities, other segments inevitably suffer, most notably the giant miner's aluminium and nickel projects.

BHP is envisioning an estimated $194 billion worth of potential growth for the bulk of its resource productions, further dwarfing the soft figures that both of its aluminium and nickel operations have been returning.

Mr Kloppers said that the thought of divesting the two assets is now a prevailing consideration for the BHP board as the company focuses on its strengths and ramps up the revenue possibilities of its growth-driven sectors.

That plan (portfolio adjustment) could be set in motion over the next 10 years, the BHP chief said.

"I think in 10 years' time, the portfolio, in terms of the number of assets and in terms of number of products, will be smaller than it is today," Mr Kloppers was reported by The Australian as saying.