MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Striking miners in Chile take company to court

Striking workers at Chile's Escondida copper mine - the world's largest - said Tuesday that they will file a legal complaint against management for union-busting.

The union representing the 2,052 striking miners said it is going to court because Escondida managers have announced plans to hire replacement workers and sent letters to union members urging them to return to work without a new collective-bargaining agreement in place.

Strikers said they were especially unhappy over the possibility that miners from neighboring Peru might be recruited to work at the facility in northern Chile.

The dispute grew more strident after 98 percent of the union members voted Monday to reject the latest offer from management, which reacted by abandoning the negotiations and implementing a contingency plan.

Part of that plan calls for inviting miners to return to work under individual contracts based on the offer the union just turned down, including a 4 percent raise and a one-time bonus ranging from $23,148 to $31,481 depending on the length of the contract.

The union, having already reduced its pay-hike demand from 13 percent to 10 percent and its bonus requirement from $29,629 to $18,518, complained that a portion of Escondida's latest monetary offer was in the form of loans to workers.

Pedro Correa, the mine's director of corporate affairs, said Chilean law gives the company the right to bypass the union and negotiate with individual miners 15 days into the strike. The walkout began Aug. 7.

"By the same token, workers who want to request their return to work have a legal right that cannot be waived and which we will respect," Correa added, ruling out a quick resumption of talks with the union.

Union spokesman Pedro Marin called management's attitude "regrettable" and said the workers want to continue the dialogue with Escondida, whose majority owner is Australia's BHP Billiton.

The mine accounts for 23 percent of Chile's copper production and 8 percent of global output of the metal.

The company, which in the first quarter of this year boosted net profits by 212 percent to $2.9 billion, contends that giving in to the raise workers are asking for would mean its labor costs would become structural costs and would put at risk the future viability of the firm.

Escondida said the strike is costing it $16 million per day.