2nd UPDATE: Chile Collahuasi Mine Still Closed Due To Strike
May 11 2010 - 5:21PM
Dow Jones News
The Collahuasi copper mine in northern Chile remains closed due
to a contract workers' strike, the company said Tuesday.
On Friday, contract workers from several mining service
providers went on strike seeking better working conditions and
wages.
They blocked the access road to the mining compound, located
some 4,500 meters above sea level in the Andes mountains.
"To [maintain] people's safety, Collahuasi has suspended
production and is asking the contracting companies to intervene
with their workers," the company said in a statement.
The striking workers have blockaded the mining compound, leaving
some 4,000 workers, including 1,000 Collahuasi staff workers,
stranded inside the complex with limited access to food and water,
Collahuasi said.
This strike is considered illegal as the workers aren't in the
process of negotiating new contracts. According to Chilean labor
laws, workers can strike during the collective-bargaining
process.
The local mining industry is concerned the contract worker
unrest could spread to other mining companies in light of high
international copper prices and the strong earnings mining
companies are expected to post this year.
The companies, represented by the National Mining Society, or
Sonami, trade group are also worried about the precedent of holding
nonstriking workers against their will inside the mining
compound.
"As legitimate as the [workers'] demands may be, this can't
contemplate infringing on the rights of other workers, nor impede
their returning to their homes following their workday," said
Sonami president midsize and large mining companies in the country
as well as several mining suppliers.
Mining Minister Laurence Golborne, meanwhile, said the
government is concerned about lost output and its possible effects
on economic activity, but its biggest concern is the workers that
can't leave the mining compound.
"There's effects on domestic output; there are economic effects
and a series of undesired consequences, but the only effect that
really concerns us today is that workers remain safe and sound,"
Valor Futuro newswire quoted Golborne as saying.
The official called on striking workers to allow others to
return to their homes.
Collahuasi produces about 500,000 tons of copper a year, or
about 10% of Chile's output.
Diversified mining companies Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) and Anglo
American PLC (AAL.LN, AAUKY) each own a 44% stake in the mine, with
the rest held by a consortium led by Mitsui & Co. (MITSY,
8031.TO).
-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8919;
carolina.pica@dowjones.com
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