Striking workers at Chile's Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, rejected fresh salary and benefit offers from the world's largest copper mine late on Sunday in a surprise vote that came after a week of hard negotiations. The offers represented a substantial improvement over earlier proposals from the company and included bonuses of up to $32,000. The strike has generated debate in Chile about what fair union wages are at a time of huge profits in mining, its backbone industry, and has sent global copper prices up and down as investors bet on when and how it will end.
See "Chile Escondida Union Rejects Offer", Reuters, The New York Times, August 20, 2006