Union leaders are demanding that 1% of dividends are distributed equally amongst employees and that shifts and advantages stay untouched.
Beneath Chilean labour legal guidelines, both celebration can request as much as 5 days of government-mediated negotiations, which could be prolonged by one other 5 days if each events agree, with the intention to stop a strike.
BHP stated in an announcement that it might search authorities mediation “within the coming days” with the aim of reaching “an settlement that aligns with employee aspirations and ensures Escondida’s future sustainability.”
Sturdy copper costs earlier this 12 months not solely boosted firms’ income, but additionally raised worker expectations. The bull run now appears to be on maintain, as funds have begun slicing their lengthy positions on the copper market.
The London Steel Alternate’s (LME) three-month worth has retreated from its document excessive of $1,104.50 per tonne ton in Might to the present $9,000.
“Any extended outage would possible preserve copper remedy prices (TC) and refining prices (RC) near zero,” BMO’s head of Commodities Analysis, Colin Hamilton, wrote in a notice to purchasers.
The analyst additionally stated the specter of a strike at Escondida depart BHP’s plans for funding in a brand new concentrator on the facility in limbo.
The final vital time Escondida employees downed instruments was in 2017. Greater than 2,300 union members took half in a 44-day strike that harm manufacturing, drove world copper costs up and have become the longest private-sector mining strike in Chile’s historical past.
It’s estimated that Escondida — accountable for about 5% of the world’s whole copper output — did not produced greater than 120,000 tonnes of the pink steel resulting from that stoppage.
Whereas majority-owned and operated by BHP, Rio Tinto and Japanese firms comparable to Mitsubishi Corp additionally maintain stakes within the mine.
Chile is the world’s greatest copper producer, and gross sales of the steel make up for about 60% its export earnings.