Output of copper cathodes and copper concentrates are beginning to be affected by a work stoppage that began Monday at the giant Collahuasi copper mine in Chile.
Reuters reports that the mine, jointly owned by Xstrata and Anglo American, has implemented a contingency plan to deal with the labour action, which about 10% of workers are participating in:
Some workers in Collahuasi, which produces about 3 percent of the world’s copper, downed tools on Monday over fears of coming layoffs. The company later on Monday announced it had laid off a “limited” number of workers in response to a partial one-day strike in October, a move that could stoke tensions between management and the union.
The story quotes union officials saying that cathode and concentrate output “was paralyzed” and that the union was digging in for a long strike: “There’s no production. No one is working,” union leader Manuel Munoz said. “There’s no time frame for the stoppage. It’s indefinite until the workers are hired back.”
The union representing the world’s third largest copper mine is accusing management of reneging on agreements that ended a work stoppage in October.
Output at Collahuasi was impacted last year when labour action shut down the mine for a month. The company will not be able to make up the two days of output lost due to strikes earlier this year, CEO Giancarlo Bruno told Reuters.
Miners in Chile are demanding a greater share of an economic boom resulting from high copper prices.
Image of copper cathodes at the Collahuasi mine is by Vismedia.
