Strike at world’s top copper mine could last 2 months
SANTIAGO: Striking workers at the world’s top copper mine, BHP Billiton’s Escondida in Chile, said Friday they were prepared to hold out for two months in their bid for higher salaries.
Workers went on strike Thursday at Escondida, causing jitters on world commodity markets.
The mine supplies five per cent of global copper output — some 927,000 metric tons (one million tons) a year — and a long strike could cause shortages.
Some 2,500 workers are picketing in shifts at a protest camp set up outside the sprawling mine complex in Chile’s Atacama desert, said the head of the miners’ union, Patricio Tapia.
“Our spirits are high. We’re (picketing) in two shifts and demonstrating that we’re ready to hold out for two months,” he told AFP.
“There are no discussions with the company” since governmentmediated negotiations collapsed, he said.
The workers say they have a war chest of 389,000 to sustain the strike. Their longest strike to date lasted 25 days, in 2006.
BHP Billiton, an AngloAustralian mining giant, has rejected workers’ demands for a seven-per cent raise and bonuses of 25 million pesos (around US$39,000).
It is offering bonuses of eight million pesos, with no raise.
The company has announced it will halt the mine for at least the first 15 days of the strike.
Analysts say a one-month strike at Escondida would cause a sharp rise in copper prices — and also cost Chile, the world’s top copper producer, 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product this year. — AFP