Codelco pays U.S. $ 387 million in bonuses to workers in past collective bargaining
From the state company ensure that these amounts are part of the reality of global private mining and representing between 3% and 4% of the surplus that the firm provides to the Treasury during the three Aryans duration of these agreements
Whenever a collective bargaining between Codelco’s management and workers is closed, the public is not indifferent.
Amounts paid by the company between 2011 and 2014 have been consolidating a number of hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to their employees.
According to recent collective agreements signed by the State Company and the Unions of its six main divisions-Chuquicamata, El Teniente, Salvador, Andina, Radomiro Tomic and Gabriela Mistral, the company has spent U.S. $ 378 million only in respect of bonds
This, regardless of the payment of “soft” zero-interest loans, which included every negotiation.
To get an idea, this amount is close to $ 400 million which will need the gas plant is driving BHP Billiton in Mejillones and will have a power generation capacity of 540 MW.
The figure is equivalent, on average, to $ 16 million for each of the 12,424 workers who participated in these collective negotiations in the six divisions of the state company.
In turn, if this same exercise incorporated soft loans provided by the state company to its employees in the last four years, assuming that all workers-had requested, the amount paid would amount to U.S. $ 464 million. This means that Codelco would have contributed with $ 76.7 million in interest-free loans if the entire plant have been applied.-
Individually, the biggest bonus paid by Codelco belongs to El Teniente ($ 17.5 million for each worker), implying a total outlay of $ 135 million, considering the 4,200 workers of the most productive division of the state company. This amount, the company said, was subject to changes in work practices in order to increase productivity and efficiency of the division.
However, the most expensive payment is considering a complete division, to date, corresponds to Chuquicamata, in December 2012. On that occasion a bonus of $ 16.8 million was given for each worker, which multiplied by 5,900 beneficiaries, entailed an expenditure of U.S. $ 182 million.
By that time the Codelco’s CEO, Thomas Keller, justified the highest figure by the need to establish a voluntary retirement scheme of two thousand people to make possible future operation of the site when it begins to operate as underground mine.
To the above is added the advent between the union and the company was signed for a 48 months period.
Both agreements are second only for the $ 19.3 million gave by Escondida in 2013 to its 2,500 workers.
As for the other divisions, all are exhibiting amounts that do not exceed $ 30 million. For Andina, agreed to pay $ 13 million in October 2012 to the Union of Labour Integration (SIL) involving 580 workers.
To this is added the $ 11 million the company agreed in the same division with the Unified Trade Union of Workers (SUT) of 632 partners.-
Also noteworthy the $ 13.6 million registry process that were given to the 829 unionized workers of Radomiro Tomic in 2012. The latter is the division with lower business costs and delivering the highest amount of surplus to the Treasury.-
In addition, the business unit deficit appears, Salvador, which last year closed a $ 9 million agreement forcing Codelco to spend U.S. $ 18.3 million.
The last position is the Gabriela Mistral Site which in 2011 closed its collective bargaining in advance $ 8 million, bringing with it $ 3.3 million among 215 union members.
Source: El Mercurio
