Codelco Chuqui vote may end strike
CHUQUICAMATA MINE - Workers at the world's No. 2 copper mine, Chile's Chuquicamata, began voting on Tuesday on an improved wage offer from top copper producer Codelco that could end a two-day strike.
Workers at the complex, which accounts for about 4 percent of world's mined copper, began their strike early on Monday. The stoppage hit owner Codelco's production and boosted copper prices, though though they were off 16-month highs as the stoppage looked set to end.
Union leaders expect the vote, due to end at 2000 GMT, to go narrowly in favour of a revised deal that was more in line with that won by workers at BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, in October.
Both union leaders and the company say they are keen to reach a deal which would end the first strike at the giant open pit mine since 1996 and clear the decks of contract-related strike risks until the next round of major wage negotiations later this year.
Unlike the previous vote, there were no screams for "strike" at polling stations on Tuesday and no repeat of the volleys of tomatoes lobbed last week at union leaders, who were caught wrong-footed when workers voted to strike.
The stoppage comes a fortnight before a Jan. 17 presidential election run-off in Chile, the world's leading copper producer, and the government is seen keen to defuse the protest for fear it could hurt the chances of its trailing candidate.
Worker's vote results are due out late on Tuesday or early on Wednesday. If they approve the vote, workers could resume operations early on Wednesday, union leaders say.
"I voted for the offer," said Yuri Huerta, 37, who had voted to strike in last week's vote. "The administration has delivered an offer that I think is satisfactory to workers."
Some strike leaders said the vote would likely favor a new offer that gives each worker bonuses worth around $24,000 and nearly $6,000 in soft loans. It would also raise their salaries by 4 percent.
Union leaders have said the offer was good for workers and was higher than the previous proposal that gave workers around $23,000 in bonuses and a 3.8 percent wage hike.
"Unfortunately, I think people will approve the offer because we do not have a union leadership which fights for us," said main strike leader Jose Gutierrez, who said he would still vote for a stoppage.
Copper prices in London slipped on Tuesday as a threat to supplies from Chile ebbed.
Benchmark copper MCU3 on the London Metal Exchange traded at $7 485 a tonne in official rings from $7 500 a tonne at the close on Monday, when the metal used extensively in power and construction touched $7 536, the highest since August 2008.
Codelco sources have estimated the Chuquicamata complex in far northern Chile, which includes the Chuquicamata and Mina Sur deposits and produces around 4 percent of the world's mined copper, would lose up to 1 800 tonnes of copper output per day during the strike and cost the state around $8 million per day in lost revenue.
Chuquicamata was expected to produce 565 000 tonnes of copper in 2009.
UNPOPULAR STRIKE
The strike does not have much backing in the country as most Chileans think Chuquicamata workers are asking too much from a state trying to claw out of its first recession in a decade, experts and a private poll say. Workers, who only very narrowly voted to strike, said hard working conditions and their contribution to the economy merits higher benefits.
If the stoppage drags on it could hurt chances of the lagging government candidate, former President Eduardo Frei, and overshadow the achievements of the center-left coalition that has ruled for two decades.
That would help the center-right presidential front-runner, conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera, who wants to sell up to 20 percent of Codelco and is seen attracting more mine union strife if he wins.
The strike comes just as Codelco was set to break years of dwindling output. Strikes and stoppage threats have buffeted Chile in recent months as workers sought a bigger slice of windfall profits with copper prices rebounding from a steep slump late last year.
Separately, employees at the Altonorte copper smelter lifted a week-long stoppage on Monday after agreeing to a new wage offer from owner Xstrata, which eased supply fears. Workers started to return to late on Monday, a union official said.
The Altonorte complex produced 232 000 tonnes of copper anodes in 2008.
A Xstrata spokeswoman told Reuters the stoppage caused no production losses as it coincided with general maintenance at the plant, which had already lowered anode output to a minimum. Maintenance work, which is carried out every 2-1/2 years, is due to end on Jan. 20.
