No breakthrough in talks at Antofagasta's striking Centinela copper mine, unions say

By Reuters News

SANTIAGO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Negotiations between Antofagasta Minerals and two striking unions at Chile's Centinela copper mine showed no progress on Thursday, while three workers marked their seventh day on a hunger strike.

The Distrito Centinela and Minera Esperanza unions, which together represent more than 700 workers, began the walkout on October 7 after contract talks collapsed. The sides returned to the negotiating table on Tuesday in an effort to resolve the dispute.

  • "So far, after three days of voluntary mediation, the company has refused to address a mechanism to end discrimination during the term of the collective agreement," the unions said in a statement.

  • The unions added that the company was continuing to present a financial offer already rejected by workers, while ignoring what they called the core issue: alleged violations of workers' fundamental rights to equal treatment and non-discrimination.

  • The unions say the dispute centers on alleged disparities in pay and benefits for workers performing similar roles at the mine.

  • Antofagasta said on Wednesday that it had so far managed to keep production running as planned. On Thursday, the company reported a 7% rise in third-quarter output and maintained its full-year production forecast of 625,000 to 655,000 metric tons of copper.

  • The strike at Centinela — along with the ultimately averted risk of a supervisors' stoppage at Escondida — has helped support global copper prices, amid concerns of difficulties to expand supply enough to meet expected future demand.

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