According to Kallanish on August 14th, workers at the Escondida copper mine in Chile went on strike on the morning of August 13th after local unions failed to reach an agreement with BHP Billiton.
The above-mentioned union stated that its negotiations with BHP did not make “substantial progress” and could not bring favorable results to its members.
According to reports, BHP previously proposed a one-time 2% salary increase for its employees as part of a 36 month collective contract. The workers voted against the plan, leading to a strike. The workers have been demanding that BHP distribute 1% of the dividends paid to foreign investors evenly among local employees. Earlier this month, the union workers rejected BHP’s proposal and voted in favor of a strike, after which the Chilean Labor Inspection Bureau mediated.
The Escondida copper mine is the world’s largest copper producing copper mine, jointly operated by BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and JECO Corp. At present, the annual output of the copper mine is 1 million tons. After the expansion project is completed, it is expected to expand to 1.3 million tons by 2026. According to BHP’s relevant statistical report, the Escondida mine will produce 1.18 million to 1.3 million tons of copper in the fiscal year 2014-2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025), an increase of 5% to 16% compared to the previous fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. The copper production of the mine for the fiscal year 2023-2024 (July 1, 2023- June 30, 2024) was 1.12 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7%, and the highest production in nearly 4 years