big peruvian copper strike imminent

TENSE TALKS FAIL
Big Peruvian copper strike imminent as talks fail
Restarted strike talks with Peruvian mining unions appear to have failed and could lead to a shutdown of operations at Southern Copper's huge Cuajone and Toquepala operations.

Author: Teresa Cespedes
Posted: Tuesday , 18 Sep 2007

LIMA (Reuters) -

Acrimonious contract negotiations between Peruvian unions and Southern Copper have failed and a strike looms, both sides said on Tuesday.

Southern Copper parent Grupo Mexico already has seen a strike hit its Cananea copper pit in Mexico. It is a major global producer of the metal and may face having all its copper work halted if a Peru strike starts.

Last week, unions at Southern's Cuajone and Toquepala mines, which together produce 370,000 tonnes of copper annually, and the 350,000-tonne-per-year Ilo smelter voted to suspend a planned strike as the government asked both sides to resume negotiations.

But the talks that restarted on Monday failed.

"All types of meetings with the company have ended. The company left the negotiating table and we are going today (Tuesday) to talk with the rank-and-file workers to hold meetings and work on the timetable for the strike at Ilo, Toquepala and Cuajone," Arnaldo Oviedo, head of the Ilo union, told Reuters.

"We think we will present the strike date next week," he added.

To hold a strike, the unions must formally file paperwork with the labor ministry and the company beforehand.

The government wants to avert a strike and keep up copper exports. Mineral shipments account for more than half of Peru's exports and the Andean country is the world's third largest copper producer.

Manuel Ramirez, head of labor relations for Southern, said the talks were tense.

"We told the government we walked away because there was no progress and the environment was not calm enough to keep talking," he told Reuters.

"The situation is very tense, there was a lot of friction. We hope that there is not a violent strike and we are going to take precautions to avoid any type of violence," Ramirez said.

The breakdown in talks happened as workers at Shougang Hierro Peru, the main iron ore producer in the Andes, were in their second day of a strike for better wages and benefits.

In recent days, Peru's vast minerals sector has been hit by labor disputes and community opposition to new mining projects.

On Sunday, residents in three towns in northern Peru held a symbolic vote to block Chinese miner Zijin's $1.4 billion Rio Blanco copper project, though Peru's federal government has said it will side with the miner.