The Multinational Monitor

OCTOBER 1981 - VOLUME 2 - NUMBER 10


G L O B A L   N E W S W A T C H

Asarco Copper Miners Strike in Peru

More than 6,000 copper workers have been on strike since August 17 at the Southern Peru Copper Corp., which is about 52 percent owned by New York-based Asarco and normally produces more than 75 percent of Peru's copper. The company's Cuajone and Toquepala mines have been closed since the beginning of the strike.

The strikers are asking for the reinstatement of 108 workers who were fired for leading a 1977 work stoppage-as well as for job stability and negotiable salaries. In July, a 25 percent wage increase was given only to workers who are relatives of Southern Peru managers. Inflation in Peru is now running at around 60 percent.

On September 10-12, the 70,000 members of Peru's miners' union staged a three-day solidarity strike in support of the Southern Peru workers. But the company's management and the Peruvian government, which has declared the strike illegal, show few signs of softening their position.

The strike is having little effect on Asarco's worldwide copper-trading operations, said spokesperson Don Noyes. "At this point it's not really a problem, because the copper market's not good at all," he explained.


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