Global miner BHP (ASX: BHP) has sued the workers’ union at its Spence copper mine in Chile over two work stoppages it deemed “illegal” because they occurred outside a scheduled negotiating period, a court filing seen by Reuters on Thursday showed.
In the lawsuit, BHP alleged that the mine operations were “significantly” affected due to “two illegal work stoppages” in June and July, and sought compensation of roughly $8.6 million.
The union aimed to pressure the mine to pay a special bonus of 5 million pesos ($5,102) per member, which was not included in the existing agreements, the lawsuit shows.
The union declined to comment. BHP in a statement confirmed that it had filed the lawsuit.
Spence is BHP’s second-largest operation in Chile, a country where the firm runs the world’s biggest copper mine Escondida.
Copper mine unions in Chile, the world’s biggest copper producer, often stage strikes to push for better pay and benefits, usually during contract negotiations.
($1 = 979.9300 Chilean pesos)
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Paolo Laudani; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Mark Porter)
