Santiago de Chile (AFP)
Some 3,200 workers at the giant copper mine in Chuquicamata, northern Chile, went on strike after failed wage negotiations, the state-owned mining company Codelco said on Wednesday.
The conflict erupted as a result of the breakdown of two-week open negotiations between management and the three mine staff unions. They rejected an offer from the company providing for a wage increase of 1.2% and a premium of 20,100 dollars, and claim an improvement in health coverage and pensions of workers.
In a statement, Codelco said its offer represents "the maximum effort" that the company could afford. According to the company, this offer takes into account "the reality of the mining sector and its future prospects, threatened by the worsening of the trade war between the United States and China", the world's largest consumer of copper.
The strike will start Friday morning, announced the unions.
Open at the beginning of the 20th century in the middle of the Atacama desert, the Chuquicamata mine produces about 450,000 tons of copper per year. Located at 2,800 meters above sea level, it is the largest open-pit copper mine in the world. Its operation must become underground from next July, with $ 5.8 billion worth of work.
Codelco is the world's largest producer of copper. It alone accounts for 11% of the world's production of this ore, with about 1.7 million tonnes per year.
? 2019 AFP