Union workers on strike at Zaldivar

Vancouver Unionized workers at the Zaldivar copper mine in northern Chile walked off the job Monday, after union leaders were unable to reach a new contract with mine operator Placer Dome (PDG-T).

The company and nearly 500 union workers were in negotiations for the past several weeks, but talks broke off on Sunday July 3, after a last-minute proposal was rejected by workers.

Press reports suggest workers were looking for across-the-board raises of 6% or better, whereas the company offered scaled pay-raises that were more beneficial to low-wage earners than high-wage earners.

Placer Dome says it "anticipated the potential for a work stoppage" and put contingency plans into place to mitigate the impact of the strike on production.

The company adds that effect of the strike on total production will be determined by the length of the strike and, among other things, "management’s ability to maintain operations."

Zaldivar was expected to produce about 330 million pounds of copper cathode this year, using heap-leaching and solvent-extraction electrowinning processing techniques.

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