Chile Spence Workers Expect New Wage Offer Sept 23 -Union
September 16 2009 - 3:40PM
Dow Jones News
Unionized workers at BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP) Spence copper
mine in Chile, currently in wage negotiations with mine management,
expect to receive a new offer Sept. 23, a union leader said
Wednesday.
Current contracts for the 560 members of the union expire Sept.
30.
"We're currently sitting at the negotiations table and the
company will give us its offer on Sept. 23," union spokeman
Francisco Aravena told Dow Jones Newswires.
The union would then take the wage and benefit proposal for a
union-wide vote, which would likely be held by Sept. 27, Aravena
said.
Spence workers are seeking a 5.5% wage increase, social benefits
and bonuses linked to international copper prices.
Before workers can go on strike, once their contracts expire,
Chilean labor laws include a five-day, government-mediated
negotiations period if either party calls for it. Finally, there's
an additional five-day mediation period if both parties agree to
it.
"The earliest we could go on strike, if we reject the offer, is
Oct. 7 or Oct. 10," Aravena said.
The open-pit Spence mine produced about 165,000 metric tons of
copper, in the form of cathodes, last year.
In addition to Spence, in Chile BHP owns the Cerro Colorado mine
and controls and operates the Escondida copper mine. The latter
will begin wage negotiations later this year.
"We're closely watching the Spence negotiations as these will
set a precedent for upcoming talks at other mines," said Pedro
Marin, the president of the Chilean Mining Federation umbrella
union group.
Workers at several divisions of state copper giant Corporacion
Nacional del Cobre, or Codelco, will also negotiate new labor
contracts at the end of the year.
In 2006, when copper prices were booming, Escondida workers -
then led by Marin - went on strike for nearly a month, bringing the
world's largest copper mine to a standstill as they sought bigger
wages and production bonuses.
A BHP representative wasn't immediately available for
comment.
-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-820-4244;
carolina.pica@dowjones.com