Workers at Chile's Escondida copper mine, the world's largest, said late on Friday the company's latest contract offer still fell short of expectations, making a strike next week more likely.
"The way things are, there will be a strike," Union Secretary Pedro Marin told Reuters. "The company needs to be more flexible in its position." Friday was the last day for 2,000 union workers and Escondida, a massive open-pit mine in northern Chile that is majority-owned by global miner BHP Billiton, to reach an agreement on a new contract to replace a 2003 pact.
Marin said after union meetings with the company that the company might still improve its position, even though the official time limit to reach a deal had run out. Escondida has been trying to reach a new contract deal for weeks as the union demands a bigger slice of soaring profits.