Escondida workers in Chile reject the mining offer and agree to vote strike: document

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Workers in Escondida Chile, the largest copper deposit in world, agreed to reject the company's latest contract offer and vote on strike, said the union in an internal document accessed by Reuters on Friday.

In recent days, workers at the mining company – controlled by the Anglo-Australian BHP – concluded that the offer did not meet the demands made and ensured that it established "harmful working conditions". "

" That is why by acclamation and with force.In all the bademblies, the members expressed their rejection of this offer and voted for the legal strike ", according to the union's internal document.

Workers at the mine, located in the north of the country, will begin the formal vote of the offer on Saturday and the votes will extend until the middle of next week.

The crucial negotiations take place a little more than a year after the failure of a labor agreement that led to a historic strike of 44 days, Escondida had improved its offer to the union this week, with an increase of a conflict premium and other benefits for u n total of $ 27,700 and a salary adjustment,

The mining company offers a total of 18 million pesos per worker, which includes compensation for the end of a housing benefit. In any event, this amount would be less than the 23 million pesos received by unionized workers in the previous negotiations in 2013.

In addition to this amount, the company also offered a salary adjustment of 1, 5 p. what would be added the percentage change in the accumulated inflation in the semester or annually.

In the company proposal submitted in early June, a single premium equivalent to 4 percent of profits was claimed in 2017, or nearly $ 40,000 per worker. Workers also demanded a 5% real wage increase.

The union's internal document pointed out that during the last bademblies the workers were informed of the plans of action studied and prepared for this phase of the negotiations.

Our next steps, after approving the strike, will seek to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with the company. The damaging conditions of the last offer must be eliminated and we must advance in our main points, "said the union in the document.

If the vote in favor of the strike is confirmed, Chilean labor law establishes that parties have five additional days to negotiate under the mediation of a government agency

Antonio de la Jara, edited by Ricardo Figueroa and Felipe Iturrieta)