Brazil & Southern Cone - April 2013 (ISSN 1741-4431)

Copper strikes: On 9 April Chile’s Federación de Trabajadores del Cobre (FTC), which groups 22 unions at the state copper company Codelco, made good on its threat to stage a 24-hour nationwide strike [RBS-13-03]. This was the second national strike by the FTC since Piñera took office and the second Chile’s return to democracy in 1990. The FTC objects to Codelco’s use of temporary contractors, accuses the management of seeking to privatise health and pensions services and is also critical of the company’s failure to develop the potential of its mines.

The FTC’s president, Raimundo Espinoza, said that 100% of Codelco’s eight divisions were paralysed on 9 April, with preliminary estimates putting losses at US$35m. This is less than the US$41m registered when the FTC held its last strike in July 2011. One positive for the Piñera government was the failure of the Federación Minera de Chile (FMC), which represents workers at private mining companies, to join the strike, despite initial suggestions that it would. While there were some shows of support and solidarity by private sector mining workers, Mining Minister Hernán De Solminihac told reporters that there was no “active participation” by FMC members. Espinoza has since said that he met President Piñera, who made a “serious commitment” to set up a dialogue table with the unions to discuss their demands. Subsequent strikes took place on 23 April by contract workers employed by Codelco at El Salvador, Gaby, Ministro Hales, Andina and El Teniente mines. This protest came ahead of a review of a six year accord on labour rights and salaries, suggesting that labour issues in the mining sector are set to roll on.

More worrying for Piñera has been the fluctuation in copper prices. On 23 April, in an interview with a local radio station, Radio Duna, he expressed concern about the fall in copper prices, after they closed that day at US$3.08 a pound, the lowest level since October 2011. The drop in prices is attributed to concerns about slowing growth in China. China’s industrial output slowed to 7.7% in the first quarter of 2013, on official figures, down from 7.9% in the final quarter of 2012. According to Chile’s copper mining commission, Cochilco, the country’s copper exports were worth US$29.5m in 2012, accounting for 52% of Chile’s total exports, down from 54% in 2011 and 56% in 2010.