Negotiations to end a 40 day-old strike at the giant Escondida copper mine in northern Chile are to continue, the union said late Tuesday, after management and workers' representatives met for talks for the first time in several weeks March 20.
More than 2,500 unionized employees at the open pit mine have been on strike since February 9, after pay talks ended without agreement.
The strike has halted production at the BHP Billiton-controlled mine, which produced more than 1 million mt of copper in cathode and concentrates last year.
In a letter to members posted on its website, the union said that after evaluating the results of the March 20 meeting, the two sides had agreed to meet again on March 22.
Talks went ahead this week, despite the union publicly rejecting the latest offer made by the company -- which included a signing bonus of Pesos 11.5 million ($17,442) and an inflation-linked pay rise -- as it did not meet union demands regarding existing benefits, workers' rest-times and new employees.
In the letter, the union said it had reiterated its position to management that it could not reach a negotiated agreement if these pre-conditions were not met, and threatened to make use of a clause in Chile's labor code allowing strikers to return to work under an extension of their existing contract -- a move which union members had already approved in assemblies over the weekend.
If the clause is triggered, workers would have to show up for work the following day, the union said.
The strike comes as Chile is about to implement a major pro-union reform of its labor code. From April 1 this year, companies will be banned from replacing striking workers.
The new rules also require collective negotiations to use workers' existing contract as the base conditions and allows unions to decide whether non-unionized workers can share in negotiated benefits.
"It is possible that the resolution of this negotiation could take several more days, so each member must be ready for any outcome," the union said.
The renewed talks follow an invitation made by the union to the company, after management vowed to restart production at the mine using contract workers.
BHP Billiton operates and owns 57.5% of the Escondida mine, Rio Tinto owns 30%, while two consortia of Japanese companies own 12.5%.
