BHP Chile Spence Copper Mine, Workers To Begin Wage Talks
September 03 2009 - 3:06PM
Dow Jones News
Unionized workers and management at BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP)
Spence copper mine in Chile will begin contract negotiations early
next week, as current contracts expire on Sept. 30.
Following the legally mandated process, the 500-strong union
presented its wage petition, which includes a 5.5% increase, social
benefits and bonuses linked to international copper prices.
The company then presented its counter-offer, according to local
labor laws, a BHP spokesman said.
Talks will begin on Monday and could run through the end of the
month if both sides don't reach an agreement. Before workers can go
on strike, once their contracts expire, local 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 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.
In 2006 when copper prices were booming, Escondida workers 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.
-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-820-4244;
carolina.pica@dowjones.com