Chile Spence Workers Unhappy With Wage Offer; Threaten Strike
September 23 2009 - 4:23PM
Dow Jones News
Unionized workers at the Spence copper mine, located in northern
Chile, aren't pleased with management's latest wage offer and are
threatening to go on strike in early October, a union leader said
Wednesday.
Workers from several local mining companies are closely watching
these negotiations as these could set a precedent for other talks
scheduled before the year ends.
Current contracts at Spence expire on Sept. 30 and the 560
unionized workers can legally go on strike on the first shift on
Oct. 8.
"The way the talks have been evolving, I'd say a strike is
imminent," said union spokesman Francisco Aravena.
Earlier Wednesday, the mine, which is owned and operated by BHP
Billiton Ltd. (BHP), handed the union its latest wage offer.
"It's practically the same conditions we already have," Aravena
said.
He added that talks were now stalled and would likely resume
under legally mandated government mediation next week.
Following local labor laws, the union members will vote, by a
show of hands at assemblies Thursday and Friday, on whether they
accept the wage offer. If rejected, a strike vote, via secret
ballot, would be held Sept. 27-29, Aravena said.
Spence workers are seeking a 5.5% wage increase, social benefits
and bonuses linked to international copper prices.
The union represents about 95% of the workers eligible for union
membership and about 60% of the mine's total workforce, according
to the union's calculations.
The open-pit Spence mine produced about 165,000 metric tons of
copper, in the form of cathodes, last year. This year, it's
expected to produce about 200,000 tons of copper.
This is Spence's second collective bargaining process as workers
negotiated the about-to-expire contract in 2006 before the mine
went into production.
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.
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. Codelco's Andina division is said
to be negotiating ahead of schedule. Contracts at the Norte
division, which includes the massive Chuquicamata mine, expire on
Dec. 31.
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