The strike that began this Wednesday in all state operations Chilean Codelco, the world’s largest copper maker, caused a “crash” but did not stop the company, the finance minister said. Mario Marcel.
“There is no work stoppage. The access of the worker groups has changed due to the mobilization of leaders,” the head of the portfolio said in a public act that announced the reinvestment of 30% of annual profits. company, which by law must transfer all its profits to the state, until 2024.
caused Copper Federation (FTC), which organizes the unions of the state-owned company, the decision to strike indefinitely was taken after Codelco announced that it would close the Ventanas smelter, located in the bay Quintero D Puchunkaviabout 140 km west of Santiago, in an area known as the “Chilean Chernobyl” because it is one of the most polluted areas in the country.
Amador Pantojathe FTC president, indicated that the strike could result in $20 million a day in losses for the Chilean state-owned company, which produces about 8% of copper and is responsible for 10 to 15% of Chilean GDP.
But the minister Marseilles stated that “for these figures to be correct, it would be necessary to drastically paralyze all of Codelco’s operations and not restore lost production in the future, and none of this is happening today”, although he did not estimate the economic damage caused by the mobilization of the company’s treasury.
Unemployment by country
“Currently we have reports from other divisions Kodelko as Chuquicamata (to North), Gabriela Mistral (to North), Radomiro Tomic (to North), savior (to North), Andean (center) and Lieutenant (center), indicating full support for this stop and in solidarity with the workers Window division”, the FTC said in a statement early this morning.
The FTC brings together about 14,000 Codelco employees and also outsources more than 40,000 external contractors, Pantoya said.
Trade unions consider the decision to close the Ventanas copper smelter “arbitrary” after several episodes of pollution in the area, where the ecological pole has been created for more than 50 years, and demand that the leftist government Gabriel Boric invest $54 million through Codelco to make the plant meet higher environmental standards.
Burnt barricades and dozens of workers demonstrated with Chilean flags blocking in the access of foundry Windows. “No to closures, but to investments,” one of the banners of the demonstrators meant.
Cast iron closing windows
The closure of the Ventanas copper smelter came after a new episode of air pollution on June 9 that affected 115 people, most of them schoolchildren, and forced the closure of schools in the area, as has been repeated for decades. region.
This industry smelts copper concentrate – a powder with a copper content of 30%, which must be melted down to obtain high-purity copper cathodes (ingots).
“We don’t want any more ecological sacrificial zones,” the leftist president said last Friday. Gabriel Boric. “As a Chilean, I am ashamed,” the president added, announcing the gradual closure of the plant.
environmental organization Greenpeace called the area “Chilean Chernobyl” after severe pollution caused about 600 people from Quintero D Puchunkavi came to medical centers with an atypical clinical picture, such as vomiting blood, headaches, dizziness, paralysis of the limbs, and strange scars on the skin in children.
(According to AFP)
Source: RPP
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