Chilean union leaders have launched a hunger strike against Chile’s state-owned copper giant Codelco. The hunger strike is in protest of Codelco’s failure to uphold the agreement that recently ended a copper miners’ labor stoppage.
Miners had voted on May 5 to end a 20-day strike that closed down three out of the five copper mines run by Codelco. The strike cost the company over $100 million.
The company had agreed to pay the workers a one-time bonus of $1,067 to end the dispute—a major victory for the Confederation of Copper Workers.
Codelco had also promised workers it would uphold an earlier strike agreement to hire all non-union workers as full-time employees. However, Chile’s Supreme Court ruled on May 12 that Codelco does not have to hire its non-union workers as full-time employees as it had promised.
The miners have vowed to fight on, promising another strike if the company does not meet their demands.
