Workers at an Antofagasta Plc copper mine in Chile escalated a three-day strike Friday, with three union members starting a hunger strike as labor leaders sought to pressure the company back to the negotiating table.
“Don’t let your workers, men and women, have to resort to extreme measures like a hunger strike just to get you to sit down and talk,” José Manuel Díaz, head of Chile’s main labor federation, said to reporters at a protest camp outside Antofagasta’s corporate offices in Santiago.
Hunger strikes are an unusual form of protest in Chilean mining labor disputes, though there are precedents, including action by union leaders at Codelco operations in 2020, and a a 27-day hunger strike BHP Group’s Escondida mine in 2015.
Labor tensions in the mining industry have risen this year as workers seek a greater share of the windfall from surging prices. Supply disruptions, trade dislocations and growing demand sent copper to a record near $15,000 a ton last month and some analysts have predicted more gains.
In a separate action, mine supervisors at Escondida are in mandatory mediation with BHP to avert a strike that could begin Tuesday.
Díaz appealed directly to Chile’s billionaire Luksic family that controls Antofagasta. “We aren’t asking for privileges; we’re only asking for equal treatment and, above all, respect,” he said.
About 50 Centinela union members have set up camp in Santiago’s financial district, while workers are also demonstrating outside the mine in northern Chile.
Antofagasta declined to comment on the hunger strike.
Pay gaps
Unions say the main sticking point is differences in pay and benefits between employees performing the same jobs who belong to different unions. Union leaders said their priority is ending what they describe as discriminatory treatment, rather than the large signing bonuses that often feature in Chilean mining wage negotiations.
Antofagasta rejects claims that differences in pay and benefits amount to discrimination, saying they stem from separate collective agreements negotiated at different times. The company said it remains willing to continue talks and has offered a 2% real increase in base salaries and a cash bonus of almost $23,000 each.
The company has maintained its production expectations despite the walkout by 709 workers, representing about 22% of Centinela’s own workforce.
The unions say the strike’s impact will build over time, projecting copper output could fall by about 50% in November if the stoppage continues.
(By James Attwood)
