Chilean copper strike continues – Salvador, Andina remain shut down
mineweb.com
As Chilean mine subcontractors say they are continuing their dispute and have closed two of Codelco’s major copper mines, police have had to use water cannon and tear gas to break up protests at Chuquicamata.
Author: Simon Gardner and Manuel Farias
Posted: Friday , 18 Apr 2008
SANTIAGO (Reuters) -
Chilean subcontract miners clashed with police for a second day on Thursday, keeping world No. 1 copper producer Codelco's Salvador and Andina divisions paralyzed and helping drive the price of the metal to a record high.
Subcontractors from the Confederation of Copper Workers, which groups more than 30,000 workers at state-owned Codelco, said police used tear gas and water cannon to clear them away from Codelco's giant Chuquicamata mine early on Thursday.
The workers, who began a company-wide strike on Wednesday over pay and work conditions, vowed to continue their protest.
Codelco closed its Andina and Salvador divisions on Wednesday, citing safety concerns, but said it had no plans to close its Codelco Norte division, which includes Chuquicamata, or its Teniente and Ventanas divisions. It said the three divisions were operating normally.
The strike helped push the price of 3-month delivery copper MCU3> on the London Metal Exchange to an all-time high on Thursday morning of $8,880 per tonne.
"Salvador and Andina are totally (closed)," Codelco official Daniel Barria told a news conference on Thursday evening. "It is not clear to us when we could restart operations (at Andina), but the accesses there have been cleared."
Andina, situated about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of the Chilean capital, produced 218,000 tonnes of copper in 2007. Salvador lies 685 miles (1,100 km) north of Santiago and produced 64,000 tonnes of copper last year.
The Confederation of Copper Workers demands Codelco fulfill agreements reached in July 2007 that ended a long, sometimes violent strike for improved benefits and pay -- and has vowed to continue striking until those demands are met.
WATER CANNON, TEAR GAS
Scuffles erupted at Chuquicamata, one of the world's largest open pit mines, on Thursday morning. Protesters said police used water cannon and tear gas to drive them away.
"The strike continues, not because we workers want it to, but because Codelco has to resolve this issue of national importance," Cristian Cuevas, president of the Confederation of Copper Workers, told a news conference.
He said his followers would be joined by private sector subcontractor workers in staging a march in the northern mining city of Antofagasta on Friday. BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's largest mine, is in the region.
Cuevas said the ball was in Codelco's court.
Subcontracted workers want pay and benefits in line with those enjoyed by Codelco's 14,000 unionized employees who do the same jobs across Codelco's five divisions.
They also want the company to absorb some 5,000 subcontract workers into its full-time ranks. Mine workers in Chile in general feel there is insufficient trickle-down of windfall earnings from Chile's main export at a time when prices for the red metal are at record highs.
The Federation of Copper Workers (FTC), the union of Codelco's permanent staff, said it had demanded the company give its workers safety guarantees and that the government punish subcontracting firms which do not properly ensure staff enjoy suitable working conditions.
"The FTC will under no circumstances fulfill production targets if the physical and psychological well-being of our members are put at risk," the federation said in a statement.
Codelco says it has complied with agreements reached last year, but subcontractors say it has done little, other than make token gestures.
Codelco is the world's largest copper producer, with annual output of about 1.7 million tonnes. (Editing by Christian Wiessner) |
