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The workers of Minera Escondida who operate in Chile the largest copper deposit in the world, Friday rejected the latest offer of the multinational Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton to sign a new collective agreement, threatening to strike
After the leaders of the union, which brings together 2,500 Escondida workers, rejected on Thursday the offer of BHP Billiton, the main shareholder of the holding with 57.5%, this Friday ended The consultations with the bases and they were "very aligned" with the leaders, assured the spokesman of the guild AFP, Carlos Allende.
The company offers a bargaining bonus of 13.5 million pesos (about $ 20,700)) for every worker at this mine located about 170 km southeast of Antofagasta, in the desert of Africa. 39, Atacama (northern Chile) at 3,100 meters.
He also agrees to maintain the rem joins and current benefits in health and education and reduce to age 52 the age of applying for retirement after 25 worked.
The company will keep this offer on the table until July 17.
"We found this offer unacceptable," Allende told AFP, adding that they "did not agree" with the form ". "It sounds like an ultimatum," he said.
"We still have time to talk, so we invite the company to keep talking," he added, before warning that a rejection of the workers' strike demands, as was the case last year, while they were unemployed for 44 days
For the workers, one of the main stumbling blocks is the bargaining bonus which according to them, to "4.5 million" Chilean pesos
"The rest are all postpaid for the benefits that are in our negotiation."
History Known
The Year last, workers in Escondida staged the longest strike in Chilean mining without successfully overcoming the company, which offered them a strike bonus of US $ 17,400 compared to the US $ 39,000
They ended the strike under section 369 of the Labor Code, which extends the the drop in production due to the strike – about 8% -, the profits of Minera Escondida increased in 2017 to 1,192 million US dollars, 20% more than the previous year, mainly due to the price increase copper on the international market.
Chile is the world's largest copper producer with an annual output of about 5.6 million tons.
Source: AFP
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