SANTIAGO - Workers at BHP Billiton’s Escondida mine in Chile, the world’s biggest copper mine, have voted to reject a company wage offer and go on strike, according to a communique sent out yesterday.
A total of 2330 members voted on strike action, with 1955 supporting it and 370 accepting the company’s final offer, with four blank votes and one spoiled ballot. “We hope that given this clear wish to reject the company’s offer, which has been expressed in a mature and democratic way by our bases, the company will see the need to find an agreement that recognises our rights,” it added.
BHP is expected to request government mediation to attempt a resolution, which could delay strike action for as many as 10 days.