“Our legitimate recognition bonus is equivalent to only 1% of the dividends paid to the owners,” said the group that led the movement, where they highlighted their “unity and union discipline” in reaching the agreement with the mining company.
After the suspension of the legal strike at BHP's Escondida Mine was announced, it was learned that the company reached an agreement with its workers, who would receive a $30 million bonus for ending the conflict and $3 million in “soft credit.”
In this way, all unionized workers who participated in the mobilizations at the most productive copper mine in the world would receive a total of $33 million (about US$ 35,311) each.
In a statement, Union No. 1 of Escondida said that "after talks that lasted until the early hours of the morning," BHP's new proposal was accepted this morning, which includes the aforementioned amount, "improvement of article 161 for a fair retirement," maintenance of the health plan, adjustments to variable bonuses, extension of benefits to new members, among others.
"Our legitimate recognition bonus is equivalent to only 1% of the dividends paid to the owners," the group said, emphasizing its "unity and union discipline" in reaching the agreement with the mining company.
Before the strike began, the company had proposed an agreement that included a $25 million bonus for ending the conflict, $2 million in interest-free credit, a 2% salary increase over the CPI, and even a 100% health plan.
However, this initial proposal, which contained these benefits and others focused on the miners' families, was rejected by the Escondida union, who asked for around $33,540,000, plus an increase in rest periods, an adjustment of variable bonuses and compensation to workers for their entire time at the company, and not up to 11 years maximum (established by law).
Escondida is the largest copper deposit in the world and represents nearly 5% of all mineral extracted globally.
In 2017, during the first half of the year, there was a strike that lasted 44 days and reduced the national GDP by 0.5 to 0.6 percentage points. In turn, the Imacec fell by 1.9%, dragged down by mining activity, which fell by 19%.
