A strike by a workers’ union at Lundin Mining’s LUN-T Caserones copper mine in Chile that has dragged on for more than a week is not showing any signs of resolution, the union’s president said on Monday.
The union, which represents around 300 workers, or 30 per cent of the total work force at the mine controlled by the Vancouver-based company, began the stoppage last Monday after negotiations over a new contract failed.
“We have been on strike for a week, and since last Wednesday when we had a meeting at the [labour ministry’s regional office], we have not had any other type of interaction with the company,” union head Marco Garcia told Reuters.
“They agreed to present us with an offer to be able to move on and lift the strike, but to date we haven’t had any sort of dialogue,” Garcia said.
The workers are prepared to drag out the strike for more than 40 days if needed, according to Garcia, despite rain and snow in recent days.
“Things are starting to get complicated at the mine,” he said. “Output is at less than half of capacity, and that obviously makes things complicated for them,” Garcia said, adding he hoped the company would reach out to the union this week.
Lundin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Caserones mine produced 139,520 metric tons of copper in 2023.