Bloomberg News | April 4, 2024 |
Ventanas Port (Image courtesy of Ventanas Port)
Chilean port workers staged protests on Thursday, disrupting the loading and unloading of ships in one of the biggest exporters of raw materials from copper and lithium to pulp and fruit.
A planned 24-hour strike by members of the UPC and FTPC umbrella unions began around 8 a.m. local time. The Ventanas port confirmed activities undertaken by union members are suspended. Television images showed workers blocking roads near the biggest port of Valparaiso. Local media reported protests by stevedores in the town of Talcahuano.
The two unions are pushing authorities to take action over a series grievances including safety conditions and recent layoffs at coal-handling facilities associated with the shift away from thermal power.
To be sure, the stoppage was announced earlier this week, and workers are scheduled to resume activities on Friday. Still, the strike is being touted as a warning, with further protests possible.
Copper producers including BHP Group, Codelco and Anglo American Plc didn’t immediately provide comment on any impact.
(By James Attwood)
Harmony Gold agrees five-year wage deal with unions
Reuters | April 4, 2024 |
Harmony’s Kusasalethu mine. (Image courtesy of Harmony Gold)
South Africa’s Harmony Gold has signed a five-year wage deal with a coalition of trade unions, the company said on Thursday.
South Africa’s often fractious major unions jointly negotiated a deal which will see the majority of workers receiving wage increases of 6.2% in the first three years from July 2024, rising to 6.35% in the fourth year and 6.5% in the fifth year.
The increases will be linked to the inflation rate if it rises above the agreed percentage increases, Harmony said. South Africa’s annual consumer price inflation was 5.6% in February, up from 5.3% the previous month.
“For the first time in our 73-year history, we have concluded a five-year wage agreement with all of our labour unions,” Harmony Gold CEO Peter Steenkamp said in a statement.
South African mining operations are occasionally disrupted by strikes over pay, impacting output.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the country’s biggest mining industry labour union, and its smaller rival Solidarity confirmed the agreement.
Harmony said the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the United Association of South Africa were also part of the deal.
(By Nelson Banya; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Reuters | April 4, 2024 |
Harmony’s Kusasalethu mine. (Image courtesy of Harmony Gold)
South Africa’s Harmony Gold has signed a five-year wage deal with a coalition of trade unions, the company said on Thursday.
South Africa’s often fractious major unions jointly negotiated a deal which will see the majority of workers receiving wage increases of 6.2% in the first three years from July 2024, rising to 6.35% in the fourth year and 6.5% in the fifth year.
The increases will be linked to the inflation rate if it rises above the agreed percentage increases, Harmony said. South Africa’s annual consumer price inflation was 5.6% in February, up from 5.3% the previous month.
“For the first time in our 73-year history, we have concluded a five-year wage agreement with all of our labour unions,” Harmony Gold CEO Peter Steenkamp said in a statement.
South African mining operations are occasionally disrupted by strikes over pay, impacting output.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the country’s biggest mining industry labour union, and its smaller rival Solidarity confirmed the agreement.
Harmony said the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the United Association of South Africa were also part of the deal.
(By Nelson Banya; Editing by Jan Harvey)
US asks Mexico to conduct review of workers’ rights at Tizapa mine
Reuters | April 3, 2024 |
Stock image.
The US on Wednesday asked the Mexican government to conduct a review based on a US finding that workers’ rights were denied at Industrias Penoles’ Tizapa mine, the US Labor Department and the US Trade Representative’s office said.
The US agencies said the request under the USMCA trade pact follows a March 4 petition filed by the Los Mineros labor union alleging Industrias Peñoles violated workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights at the company’s Tizapa mine in Zacazonapan.
(By Paul Grant; Editing by Eric Beech)
Reuters | April 3, 2024 |
Stock image.
The US on Wednesday asked the Mexican government to conduct a review based on a US finding that workers’ rights were denied at Industrias Penoles’ Tizapa mine, the US Labor Department and the US Trade Representative’s office said.
The US agencies said the request under the USMCA trade pact follows a March 4 petition filed by the Los Mineros labor union alleging Industrias Peñoles violated workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights at the company’s Tizapa mine in Zacazonapan.
(By Paul Grant; Editing by Eric Beech)
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