IQUIQUE, Chile, Nov 22 （Reuters） - Most striking workers at the world's No. 3 copper mine, Collahuasi, stayed out on Monday as a deadline draws near for employees to take a final wage offer that management hopes is enough to put an end to an 18-day walkout.
Union leaders said around 19 strikers have quit the stoppage while a source in management said around 120 -- still less than 8 percent of the union -- had accepted a new wage offer and returned to work by Sunday.
The mine, owned by Xstrata and Anglo American , needs the majority of strikers to return to work to end the labor action that has pushed up copper prices and may become a precedent for upcoming wage talks at Chilean mines that extract about 6 percent of the world's copper.
Despite the strike, Collahuasi prepared a new copper shipment on Monday, a senior port source said, suggesting the mine continues to produce and has enough material stockpiled to meet deliveries.
The mine's ability to continue operations despite the strike could help management persuade more strikers to return to work before Tuesday, the deadline set by management for workers to accept a new, sweeter wage offer.
The 1,551-member union says most workers will stay out even as the walkout cuts their income. It accuses the mine operator of hiding serious production problems to undermine the strike. Workers do not get paid while they are on strike, and Collahuasi has offered a one-time cash payment of nearly $29,000 -- up from an earlier offer of around $28,000 -- for employees who return to work before Tuesday.
NEW TALKS?
The union is also expecting support from a meeting of private and state mining workers on Monday.
The union wants a new round of wage talks, but the company called the latest sweetened package its "final" offer.
Collahuasi is expecting to gain strength in a meeting on Monday of union leaders from privately owned mines, state-owned mines and oil refineries -- three labor groups that historically have failed to forge concrete alliances.
The Collahuasi strike is the biggest among privately owned mines in Chile, the world's top copper producer, since workers put down tools for 26 days at top mine Escondida in 2006. Collahuasi mine spokeswoman Bernardita Fernandez said on Sunday that operations at the mine remained normal under a contingency plan and that all November commercial commitments would be met.
She said a routine problem at a mineral-crushing plant had been resolved, refuting reports by union officials that the plant might be shut for four days.
The union says the mine is operating at 20 percent capacity after a series of problems at copper concentrators, a molybdenum plant and extraction of mineral.
Collahuasi, jointly owned by Xstrata and Anglo American , aims to lift output to more than a million tonnes a year and challenge nearby Escondida as the world's biggest copper pit.
Company officials have said their latest salary offer would lift average wages for a new 40-month contract by 16.4 percent, similar to an early November proposal union leaders rejected. （Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe）
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