BHP Is `Confident' of Deal With Spence Copper Workers 2006-09-18 11:58 (New York)
By Madelene Pearson
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's
largest mining company, said it is confident a new contract will
be reached with workers who last week voted to strike at the
company's $1 billion Spence copper project in Chile.
BHP will ask for mediation to extend negotiations at Spence
by a week, the Melbourne-based company said today in an e-mailed
statement. Workers voted Sept. 15 to strike after rejecting an
offer to increase salaries by Chile's inflation rate, which was
3.8 percent annually in August.
``We are confident that a mutual understanding will
eventually be reached,'' BHP spokeswoman Samantha Evans said in
Melbourne. ``The strike is a legal right of the workers in this
process.''
Copper prices have more than doubled in the past year, and
workers at mines including BHP's Escondida copper mine, the
world's biggest producer, and Grupo Mexico, have walked off the
job demanding a bigger share of the profit. Mines that represent
as much as 2 million metric tons of capacity, or 15 percent of
the world's total, may face strikes to the end of 2006, Goldman
Sachs JBWere Pty. said Sept. 11.
Andres Ramirez, president of Spence's workers union, and
Alberto Carvajal, a union spokesman, didn't immediately return
calls to their mobile phones today. Chile celebrates a national
holiday today and tomorrow.
Seek Bigger Raise
The Spence Mining Company Workers' Union wants BHP to raise
wages by 7 percentage points above the inflation rate and boost
bonuses and benefits.
``Our strategic approach in Spence's project labor
negotiation is to build a win-win outcome with the union,''
Evans said. ``We will exhaust any possibilities of conversations
with the union to achieve such a strategic goal.''
Shares of BHP rose 20 cents, or 0.8 percent, to A$25.22
today in Sydney on the Australian Stock Exchange. The stock has
gained 11 percent this year, compared with a 6.5 percent gain in
the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
In addition to talks at Spence, BHP also has to reach a
salary accord by the end of January at its Cerro Colorado mine
in Chile. BHP also is in labor talks with workers in Peru at the
Antamina copper and zinc mine, where there is no deadline to
reach an agreement.
--With reporting by Matthew Craze in Buenos Aires. Editor:
Stroth. |
