SANTIAGO – Three unions from Chile state mining enterprise Codelco, the largest producer of copper in the world, are on strike after rejecting a new labour agreement, a union leader told AFP yesterday.
The Suplant union began a strike yesterday at the Andina mining division to join two other unions that started industrial action last week.
It comes just days after Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP reached a deal with workers at the world’s biggest copper mine, Escondida, also in Chile, to avoid a strike action there.
The Andina unions have rejected a new labour deal that removes health benefits for new employees, as well as compensation related to years of service.
“Suplant is declaring a strike because Codelco’s executives want to reduce labour costs by removing health and taking away the rights to compensation for years of service. We won’t allow it,” said union president Clodomiro Vasquez.
The Andina division, situated more than 3,000m above sea level in the centre of the country, comprises the underground Rio Blanco mine and the open-air Sur Sur mine, which together produced more than 184,000 metric tonnes of copper last year.
The three striking unions represent 1,300 of the 1,437 Andina workers.
The other two unions – the Industrial Union of Labour Integration and the Unified Union of Workers – released a statement saying “there has been a tremendous effort during the pandemic”, and that they worked “under extreme cold and heat, exposed to physical and chemical risks... mental burden and overwork”.
Codelco, which produces 8% of the world’s copper, said the offer “represents the company’s maximum effort”.
While much of Chile was put under lockdown at times during the Covid-19 crisis, the vital mining industry has always been kept operational.
Chile is the world’s largest copper producer at 5.6 million tonnes a year that make up 28% of global output, much of which is sold to China, the world’s biggest consumer.
Mining makes up 10% to 15% of the nation’s gross domestic product and half of its exports. – AFP, August 18, 2021
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