According to experts, higher metal prices may raise union expectations. Major operations, such as BHP’s Escondida and Codelco’s El Teniente, will renegotiate agreements.
A total of 34 collective bargaining processes in large-scale mining will take place next year, a figure that typically draws attention in a key sector of the economy. These negotiations will occur in a context where copper production has remained stagnant in recent years.
The number of negotiations scheduled for 2026 is higher than this year’s total, when 24 new collective agreements were signed. However, it will be lower than the number recorded in 2024 (44) and 2023 (49), according to information from consultancy firm Plusmining.
Private companies and Codelco
Two of the largest collective bargaining processes in private mining will take place in mid-year. In August, Union No. 2 and MSA at Los Bronces, owned by Anglo American (future Anglo Teck), which represents 1,510 workers, must agree on a new collective agreement. That same month, Union No. 2 of Supervisors and Staff at BHP’s Minera Escondida, representing 1,000 workers, will also enter negotiations, according to information from the Chilean Mining Council.
In 2026, Codelco has scheduled the expiration of collective agreements for five unions, two of them at the El Teniente Division. It was at this mine that an accident occurred in mid-July, resulting in the deaths of six miners.
A soaring price
Higher copper prices imply increased revenues for companies (and for the government). For 2026, Cochilco forecasts an average price of US$4.55 per pound. For this year, the average price stands at US$4.49 per pound, having risen steadily over recent months. Yesterday (December 16, 2025), copper closed at US$5.28 per pound. Foreign banks such as Bank of America and Citi project that the metal will average above US$5 per pound and could even reach peaks above US$6 in 2026.
“Without a doubt, high copper prices have raised workers’ expectations regarding greater participation in the industry’s revenues,” notes Patricio Faúndez, head of economics at GEM Mining Consulting.
In the past, strikes have halted mining operations. “An emblematic case was the shutdown at Escondida in 2006, which lasted nearly a month during the commodities supercycle,” Faúndez recalls. Another case also occurred at Escondida in 2017, with a strike lasting more than 40 days and losses exceeding 100,000 tonnes, during a period when copper prices were recovering after the 2015–2016 downturn, the expert notes.
Higher copper prices do not necessarily translate into a greater likelihood of strikes, says Fiorella Ulloa, Head of the Political and Regulatory Area at Plusmining. Higher revenues “have rather been used as a leverage mechanism within collective bargaining processes, aimed at improving economic benefits, bonuses and working conditions, without necessarily escalating into prolonged strikes,” she explains.
Source: El Mercurio