USW 7619 Supports Chilean Mine Workers

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With the announcement of the Union Sindicato N°1 workers going on strike at the Escondida Mine in Chile, United Steelworkers Local 7619, Highland Valley Copper Mine, are standing together to support fellow miners’ rights.
 
These workers are fighting for the same rights that our management continue to demand we give up too, including seniority, two-tier benefit plans, wages and pensions.  It goes to show that there is a common trend among international cooperate mining giants like BHP Billiton and TECK to lower standards, reducing wages and benefits of workers, despite growing profits and record CEO and executive compensations.
 
In a previous round of bargaining with BHP the union secured for each worker a bonus worth some $49,000, the highest ever in Chile's mining industry.  This time, BHP has come in to ask for major concessions.  The company names may be different and we are in different countries but our stories and experience are no different whether it’s Escondida, Chile or Kamloops BC.
 
Our Chilean sisters and brothers are fighting to protect their rights, and have settled in for the long haul.  Workers have been gearing up for what could be a prolonged strike and are stockpiling rations and supplies to survive the searing sun and bone-chilling nights of Chile's northern high-desert.Mine 2
 
"Management wants to step all over the union, it wants to destroy it," said Patricio Tapia, the union president who easily won re-election last year.  Sound familiar? 

"We're a lot more organized than the last (strike). We're angry because the company is making a mockery of us, so if we need to be here 30 or 40 days, so be it," said a miner, who preferred not to be named.

"We don't adhere to any political stripe, we're only trying to defend our rights. They can't take away everything we've already won”, said Tapia, donning a pair work gloves.
 
Escondida going offline also puts a huge dent in the world copper market, as they are seen as the #1 copper producer.  This shaves off about 6% of the worlds copper supply, or 1.15 million tonnes of copper.  This most likely means an increase of copper prices as demand starts to grow as the strike takes hold.  This coupled with the strike in Indonesia at the country’s biggest copper smelter, which is Freeport’s sole domestic off taker of copper concentrate, has added to the company’s woes.
 
Half way around the world, these workers are fighting the same fight against the same type of management and the same type of corporation.  Things don’t change if you don’t fight for them, and the fights don’t change from Country to Country.  It’s the same greed, same agenda, and same game plan.
 
We win when we stick together, whether as workers at HVC or as fellow miners around the world. USW 7619 extends its full solidarity with members of Union Sindicato N°1 at Escondida.

In Solidarity,

United Steelworkers 7619, Highland Valley Copper Employees, Kamloops BC, Canada

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