Boost to benefits ends walkout
LIMA (Reuters) — Workers at mining company Southern Copper in Peru have reached a deal with management to end a two-week strike, a union official and a company spokesman told Reuters on Monday.
Southern Copper operates the Toquepala and Cuajone mines and the Ilo refinery in Peru, which were all hit by the labour action. Toquepala and Cuajone together produced some 310,000 tonnes of copper last year, according to government data.
The company said last week that the stoppage was not significantly affecting production.
Nearly 3,000 striking workers at the facilities returned to work late Sunday, according to union leader Aldo Rodríguez.
"We ended the strike because we reached a deal that includes better medical benefits," Rodriguez said. The end of the strike was confirmed by a company representative.
Southern Copper — owned by Grupo Mexico — boosted its copper output by 21 per cent to 900,000 tonnes last year on the back of an expansion at a mine in Mexico.
