Catherwood LibraryILR School

Workers at Chile's Chuquicamata mine have halted mining activities to protest the eliminations of benefits in contract negotiations. Under Chilean law, workers have to vote on a company wage offer before the contract expires before striking. The mine is owned by Codelco, a state-owned company and produced 20% of its total output last year. A spokesmen representing the three unions that are negotiating a contract together said that the strike would continue until Codelco agrees to respect their demands. The worry for both Codelco officials and the Chilean government is the effect the strike will have on copper prices, which have in the past been very sensitive to work stoppages The strike is not expected to spread to other Codelco mines, which have either reached contract settlements or will not start negotiations until next year.