CHILE

BHP averts strike at Escondida mine with preliminary union deal

Reuters | October 12, 2023 | 

Escondida workers on strike in 2017. (Screenshot from CNN Chile Video)

Global miner BHP reached a preliminary deal with the supervisors’ union at its Escondida mine in Chile, avoiding a strike at the world’s largest copper deposit, the company announced late on Wednesday.


In late September, the union’s members rejected a proposal from the company, prompting government mediation to avoid a work stoppage.

“It was agreed to extend the mediation for an additional day in order to finalise and sign a new collective bargaining agreement once it has been ratified by its members,” BHP said in a statement on Wednesday night.

“The company continues to operate normally,” it added.

In 2022, Escondida produced 1.05 million metric tons of copper.

(By Fabián Andrés Cambero and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Sharon Singleton)