17 January, 2011
An indefinite strike by a branch of the Peruvian National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (FNTMMSP) was averted just hours before a strike deadline on 14 January when managers at the country’s third largest copper mine finally addressed and corrected a set of seven grievances.
Some 1,200 miners of the ICEM-affiliated FNTMMSP’s Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde union had downed tools twice in late December – once for 24 hours on 24 December, the other time on 31 December to 1 January for 48 hours – over violations in a three-year collective agreement that will expire on 30 August 2011.
Branch union Chairman Leoncio Amudio Peña said miners were preparing for a strike contingency planning meeting on the evening of 13 January when the company called union leaders in and pledged correction of contract breaches. The two sides had been meeting with officials from the Peruvian Labour Ministry throughout last week to resolve the issues.
Cerro Verde is 53.56% owned by US-based Freeport-McMoRan, 21% by SMM Cerro Verde Netherlands, a subsidiary of Sumitoma Metal Mining Co. Ltd. of Japan, and 19% by Compañía de Minas Buenaventura of Peru. The operation, in the southeastern region of Arequipa, sells 50% of its annual copper concentrate production to Sumitoma Metal in a contract that runs until 2016.
Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde produced 283,750 tonnes of copper in 2010, and it also produces molybdenum concentrates as a by-product.
The grievances centered on shortcomings to family members in private medical coverage, inadequate transportation to and from the open-pit mine, and food rations while at work. The union was also in dispute with the copper producer because many workers were forced to work extra hours without added pay. The normal work-week at Cerro Verde is 45.5 hours.
The FNTMMSP has a number of labour agreements coming due this year in Peru’s mining and metals sector. One lapsed contract, with Barrick’s Gold of Canada, was resolved two weeks ago, covering workers of Minera Barrick Misquichilca at the Lagunas Norte gold mine in northern Peru and the Pierina mine in the Amcash region.
The three-year contract gives workers a 7% increase retroactive to 1 June 2010; 6.5% effective 19 June 2011; and 6.5% on 19 June 2012. A signing bonus was also agreed to, giving miners with ten or more years of service 27,000 soles (US$9,620); those with five to ten years, 26,000 soles; two to five years, 23,500 soles; and those with one to two years, 21,500 soles. A quarterly productivity bonus also was won.
On the metals side, FNTMMSP met on 14 January with management of Metallurgical Peruana SA (Mepsa), a manufacturer of steel grinding balls and smelted metals used in the mining and agricultural sectors, to resolve a 2010-2011 dispute. Some 400 metalworkers staged a ten-day strike in early December and besides 2010 pay awards, Peru’s Labour Ministry is now mediating FNTMMSP’s demand to reinstate 14 workers who were sacked in last month’s strike.