In late July, BHP's Escondida mine, Codelco's Andina mine and Japan's JXNipponMining& mining LTD. The union at Metals' Caserones mine (about 3,500 mining workers) voted to strike after rejecting management's new collective agreement and entered a government mediation phase in the first week of August with the intervention of the Labour Authority (DT). Escondida is the world's largest copper mine in production, with a copper output of 1.187 million tons in 2020, accounting for 20.7% of Chile's copper production and 5.8% of the global total. The Andina mine produced 184,000 tons of copper in 2020, 11% of Codelco's copper production and 3% of Chile's total production; Caserones will produce 126,000 tonnes of copper in 2020, accounting for 2.2% of Chile's total production. If final talks break down, the strike could disrupt more than a quarter of Chile's production.
According to foreign media reports, as of August 9 (Chilean time), the first five-day government mediation period ended, and the unions in Escondida, AndinaDivision and Caserones are heading towards different endings in their mediation process.
1. Strike begins after mediation fails at Caserones copper mine
The union's 320 workers at the Caserones mine were scheduled to strike at 8 a.m. Tuesday after mediation failed. "An agreement could not be reached because the company stated that there was no more budget in this negotiation and therefore could not amend the salary offer already offered and increase the bonus benefits," the Caserones union explained in an internal statement. According to sources, workers are upset because the company has closed the door to resolving the long-standing internal dispute between the two parties.
LuminaCopper's performance has been dogged by problems since it began operating Caserones in 2014. The Japanese company invested about $4.2 billion in the mine, but due to a series of technical issues, the mine's production has consistently fallen short of its target of 150,000 tons since it started production in May 2014. By the end of 2020, Caserones' revenue was down 10%, totaling $827 million.
2. Some positive progress has been made in Escondida, and mediation has been extended by one day
On Monday evening local time, the first five-day government mediation period at BHP's Escondida copper mine in Chile ended, with workers and the company agreeing to extend it by one day in an effort to avoid a strike if possible. , scale of the mine, the world's largest trade union probably has 2300 workers, the two sides in workers will continue to negotiations into the middle of the night, before a final vote on the evening of may reach an agreement, then the number one union (UnionNo1ofOperatorsandMaintainers) to the base.
3. The Andina Copper mine union supported an extension of the mediation period by two days
Three unions at Codelco's Andina copper mine supported an extension of the mediation period by two days, which would allow for a vote on the new proposal. It is understood that Andina has three unions involved in the negotiations: The Union of Allied Industries (SIIL) and the Union of United Workers (SUT), which will evaluate alternatives by Wednesday local time. Although UnionPlants and Suplant are a day behind, the results of the first two groups will guide their final decision.
4. Collective bargaining is in progress and the expiration date of the Contract for the ElTeniente copper mine is approaching
In the near term, there could be news of collective bargaining at Codelco's ElTeniente copper mine, as negotiations have been going on for several weeks. Labor contracts for five unions -- Caletones, ElTeniente, N°7, N°5, Sewell and MinaUnificado -- are set to expire on October 31, involving about 3,345 workers.
While there is always a different internal logic to the negotiation process between different unions and miners, the outcome of the concluded collective bargaining within the industry will guide subsequent negotiations at other copper mines, such as Escondida, Caserones and Andina, which have been under way recently.
