Union works have blocked roads and halted mining activities at Chile's massive Chuquicamata mine on Wednesday over a wage dispute with owner Codelco, the world's No 1 copper producer. "It is paralysed," a spokeswoman said of the mine that produced 315,000 tonnes of copper last year, 20 percent of state giant Codelco's total output.
The blockage after contract negotiations collapsed will likely fan fears of supply disruption in the world's top producer of the red metal used to build cars to refrigerators. "The action is indefinite until the administration agrees to respect our contracts," Armando Silva, head of one of the three unions jointly negotiating a new collective contract, told Reuters earlier.
The blockade started at 4 am local time (0700 GMT) and that workers arriving for their morning shifts had joined the protest, halting operations at the mine, he said. The nearly century-old Chuquicamata mine is part of the company's Codelco Norte division that includes the Radomiro Tomic copper deposit.