With a 93 percent approval La Escondida mine workers accepted the contract that ended their 25-day strike that paralyzed production in the largest private copper mine. La Escondida owned by the Anglo-Australian mining conglomerate BHP Billiton, buckled under the pressure of the three-week strike.
Workers agreed to a 5 percent pay increase and a one time after tax bonus of US$ 17,000. The workers also received major improvements in working, health and safety conditions.
Company executives had set out to crush the union and get company favoured conditions in the work environment. BHP Billiton had offered a 3 percent pay increase based on production incentives and a one-time bonus of nearly US$ 10,000.
Union spokesperson Pedro Marin called the company offer a clawback and return to an era where miners were paid by piecework. Union solidarity remained strong throughout the 25 days of strike. Even when La Escondida waited for the 15 strike day to stop all collective bargaining and begin negotiating with each individual miner and hire replacement workers. Marin says only 10 unionized miners took up the offer, but rejoined the strike soon after. The company could only hire 50 miners.
Also the miners were able to shut down mine operations after it blocked access roads to the mine preventing a shift change of contract workers and non-union workers and supplies to get to the mine located at 3,100 metres in the Andes Mountains.
Marin says both parties should feel winners in the strike. He says the union showed good stewardship and negotiating capacity with the company, adding that now is time to return to work.
La Escondida will resume operations Saturday.
During the strike, according to industry experts, BHP Billiton lost some US$ 16 million a day. Last year the company had record profit of US$ 2.5 billion, and is expected to earn upwards of US$ 7 billion in profit.
Clearly, the union in its third collective bargaining since its creation, it has taken a giant step forward in the developing union movement silenced after the 1973 military coup.
