By Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Workers at Chilean state copper giant Codelco’s Radomiro Tomic mine accepted a new contract offer from the firm on Wednesday, defusing worries about a potential strike.
The contract proposal was approved, the union said in a statement sent to Reuters, adding that there had been a strong vote in favor of a strike but it had fallen short of the absolute majority needed.
The union vote saw 263 in favor of strike action, while 258 favored the offer. The rest of the total 670 votes were not cast, meaning support for a strike fell short of the 50% plus one vote that would have been needed.
“Given that the absolute majority was not met to make the strike effective, which implied 336 votes, the latest offer from the employer is accepted,” the union said in a statement.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Adam Jourdan)
