The union at Chile’s Escondida copper mine has signed a three-year deal with BHP, ending a strike that could have threatened global supplies of the metal, reported Reuters.
The agreement included changes in labour conditions such as “initiatives to optimize shift changes, increase equipment utilization and compliance with the 40-hour law,” BHP said in a statement.
The mine’s union had gone on strike on August 13 over payment disputes and then came to a preliminary agreement on August 16 that had suspended the strike.
An internal union message, reviewed by Reuters, has asked members to return to work.
BHP’s statement didn’t provide any further details on the deal with the union. But earlier in the week, sources at the company and the union told Reuters that BHP offered workers around $32,000 as a bonus and an additional $2,000 in soft loans.
BHP had previously offered a $28,900 bonus per worker, compared with the union’s demand of 1% of shareholder dividends from the mine, or roughly $35,000 to $36,000 per member.
Source: Reuters