23 Oct
by Vitaliy Dadalyan
(Bloomberg) — Chile’s powerful copper-mining unions are encouraging workers in the world’s top producer to down tools and join anti-government demonstrations that have swept the country for the past five days.Unions representing workers across Chile’s main mines have announced one or two-day stoppages as they call for the government to withdraw the state of emergency and listen to people’s demands. Port terminals, including some key copper-shipping facilities, will join the stoppage, unions said.While Chile is the top copper-producing nation, churning out just under a third of global supply, it’s still unclear how much impact the disruption could have on copper markets, if any. Strikes have become fairly common at Chile’s mines and a two-day stoppage would have minimal effect. In July, about 3,200 machine operators and maintenance workers staged a 14-day strike at Chuquicamata, a mine located in the country’s north.Antofagasta Plc estimated the current civil unrest could potentially disrupt about 5,000 tons of metal, a small amount for a company that produces more than 700,000 tons a year. The strikes are also coming at a time when copper demand is under strain from weak global growth, which could mute the price reaction. Benchmark copper futures were little changed at $5,817.50 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 6:11 a.m. in Santiago on Wednesday. Prices are down 2.6% this year. “This uprising by Chile’s civil society is genuine and mining workers can’t be mere observers,” said the Mining Federation, an umbrella group of unions in privately-owned mines. “Chile needs social transformation to rebuild trust and recover a democracy that’s been run over by the political class.”On Tuesday night local time, President Sebastian Pinera unveiled a series of measures in a bid to appease the protesters, although it remains unclear if his concessions will defuse the unrest. In a televised speech, Pinera said he plans to raise the maximum income tax, lift basic pensions, introduce a guaranteed minimum income and insurance for health expenses, and control utility prices.South America’s wealthiest nation is immersed in the worst civil unrest since it returned to democracy 29 years ago. What began as a protest against a 4-cent subway-fare hike quickly became an outpouring of broad discontent over economic inequality, pensions, health and education.Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, halted operations at 8 a.m. local time on Oct. 22 as workers protested. Production will be halted until at least 6.30 a.m. local time on Oct. 23, and the stoppage might continue depending how events unfold in the coming hours, Union No. 1 said.Two-Day StrikeThe umbrella group of unions at top producing company Codelco encouraged workers to join a nationwide call for a two-day strike from Oct. 23. Unions at the Chuquicamata, Ministro Hales and Gabriela Mistral mines said they would join the stoppage, with other Codelco unions yet to confirm their participation.Unions at privately-owned mines also expressed support for the demonstrators’ demands, with the Mining Federation saying workers at a total of nine mines would down tools on Oct. 24 at 8 a.m. Unions signing the statement represent workers at BHP’s Cerro Colorado, Collahuasi, Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s El Abra and Antofagasta’s Pelambres, Centinela and Zaldivar.Workers at Chilean ports, some of which ship copper, are also planning to join the two-day stoppage, according to umbrella group of unions, Union Portuaria. Ports joining include Iquique, Tocopilla, Antofagasta, Chanaral, Huasco, Ventanas, Valparaiso, San Antonio and Puerto Montt.(Adds Antofagasta production details in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Millan Lombrana in Santiago at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Luzi Ann Javier at [email protected], Lynn ThomassonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
