(Updates with confirmation of contract deal)
By Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The union of workers at Chile´s
Collahuasi copper mine has come to an agreement in labor talks
with the mine operator, the union president said on Friday,
staving off the threat of a strike at the sprawling deposit.
The talks at Collahuasi - a partnership between Glencore
and Anglo American with Japanese firms - were
widely seen as the most sensitive of 2020 in top copper producer
Chile, both because of the size of the union involved and the
mine´s importance to the country´s total output.
"We have reached a collective agreement with the company to
the satisfaction of both parties," Felipe Román, president of
the union, told Reuters.
Earlier in the day a source with knowledge of the talks had
told Reuters that labor and management had a struck the deal
well ahead of the negotiation deadline of Oct. 30.
The new contract takes effect on Nov. 1.
Copper prices have been supported recently by concern about
potential strikes in Chile.
Elsewhere, the talks have not gone well.
A union of workers at Lundin Mining´s much smaller
Candelaria copper mine in Chile walked off the job on Thursday
after talks broke down this week. A supervisors union at BHP´s
Escondida copper mine, the world´s largest, rejected the
company´s final offer on Friday and a strike is imminent there.
Collahuasi is one of Chile´s largest mines. It produced
565,400 tonnes of copper in 2019.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Dave Sherwood
Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and David Gregorio)
Anglo American (AAL)
Glencore (GLEN)
