Chile Lomas Bayas miners poised to start strike
miningweekly.com
By: Reuters
4th May 2009
SANTIAGO - Mine workers at Xstrata'sLomas Bayas copper deposit in northern Chile are poised to start strike action this week after wage talk mediation failed, their union said on Monday, though the company held out hope for a deal.
Union leader Elias Andronico, who represents some 385 workers at the deposit, said he would have a brief meeting with Xstrata on Tuesday, but said it was a technicality and saw little hope of a last-ditch deal.
The strike was set to begin on Wednesday, he said.
"Maybe we could continue to negotiate during the strike," Andronico told Reuters. "But the negotiating board has said we won't go knocking on doors during the strike."
Workers at the deposit have demanded a 6 percent pay increase.
"We are waiting for the mediation to follow its course," Juan Pablo Schaeffer, spokesman for Xstrata Chile's Norte division, told Reuters. "We hope we can reach a good deal with them."
"If it doesn't work out, we have a contingency plan we are implementing to try and ensure output is affected as little as possible," he added.
The Lomas Bayas deposit, which is located in Chile's Atacama desert, has an annual output capacity of around 75 000 tonnes of copper. |
