By James Attwood | Updated on Oct 07, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Workers at Antofagasta Plc’s Centinela copper mine in Chile are set to begin a strike on Wednesday after wage talks ended without an agreement, adding to labor tensions in the world’s biggest copper-producing nation.
The Minera Esperanza and Distrito Centinela unions said in a statement the walkout will begin at 8 a.m. local time after mandatory mediation overseen by Chile’s Labor Inspectorate failed to resolve the dispute. The unions represent more than 700 workers.
The stoppage comes as labor tensions rise in Chile’s copper industry amid near-record prices. Supervisors at BHP Group’s Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine, have also voted to strike and are in government-mediated talks with the company.
Any prolonged disruption would add to supply concerns in Chile, where copper production has already been hurt this year by accidents, bad weather and operational setbacks. The strike will be the first at Centinela, one of Antofagasta’s four operations in Chile. The mine produced 240,400 metric tons of copper last year.
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The key sticking point is differences in pay and benefits between employees performing the same jobs but belonging to different unions. The unions said the company rejected a proposed mechanism to eliminate those disparities without offering an alternative.