Centinela workers reject Antofagasta wage offer, setting up mediation
Two unions at the Chilean copper mine say a joint pay proposal still leaves pay gaps between similar jobs unresolved.
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Workers at the Centinela copper mine in Chile have voted down a contract offer from Antofagasta Minerals, which operates the mine, moving the dispute toward a mandatory government mediation period required under Chilean labor law before any strike can begin, according to Kitco News.
The two unions involved, Trabajadores de Minera Esperanza and Trabajadores Distrito Centinela, said the offer "does not even resolve the discrimination, as long-standing disparities remain," according to Kitco News, and said they are financially prepared for a strike lasting many days. The unions had complained that the proposal failed to close gaps in benefits and pay between workers doing similar jobs, Shanghai Metals Market reported. This marks the first time the two groups have bargained together as a single front at Centinela rather than negotiating separately, according to Discovery Alert.
About 730 workers took part in the strike authorization ballot held from September 26 to 28, at a mine in the middle of a $4.4 billion expansion aimed at starting a second concentrator in 2027, Discovery Alert reported. No update from the company has linked the dispute to output timelines so far, according to Discovery Alert. Separately, unionized supervisors at BHP's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine, were voting from September 28 to 30 on a contract offer their union had urged them to reject following a worker's death, Reuters reported via Investing.com.
The rejection creates strike risk for a major Chilean copper producer under mandatory mediation before any walkout can start. But trade data suggests the market has already absorbed months of falling Chilean copper exports, so while the standoff matters for the mine's own operations, it is unlikely on its own to shift the broader copper supply narrative.