London 01/09/2016 - One of the two unions at Codelco's El Salvador copper mine in Chile has voted to go on strike after rejecting the company's proposal for a new collective wage agreement starting next year, according to local media reports.
The Sindicato 2 of the division voted on Thursday in favour of the strike by a majority of 55 percent, with the intention of starting industrial action on Monday. The other union involved in the collective negotiation with Codelco, Sindicato 6 of El Salvador, voted in favour of the company's three-year labour contract proposal.
The latest offer from Codelco comprised a salary freeze and a bonus of 2.425 million pesos ($3,600) per worker to be paid over two years, which could increase to 3.5 million pesos but without loans. Unions wanted more as well as soft loans.
The collective wage agreement at El Salvador expires in April 2017.
At a press conference last week, Codelco CEO Nelson Pizarro adopted a tough stance on wage negotiations at El Salvador, saying a strike would risk the company having to shut down the loss-making mine.
El Salvador is one of Codelco's smaller mining projects - it produced 49,000 tonnes of copper in 2015, down from 54,000 tonnes in 2014 and just three percent of the company's mining output.
Codelco recorded a loss of $97 million in the first half of the year despite lowering cash costs due to a 21-percent fall in the price of copper and a massive investment programme needed to upgrade ageing mines.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)