Santiago — Relations between management and striking workers at the world’s biggest copper mine have thawed enough for the two sides to sit down in the same room again. But do not expect handshakes and backslaps just yet. Union leaders at BHP Billiton’s Escondida mine in Chile were waiting for the company to say whether it agreed to workers’ conditions for continuing talks, union spokesperson Carlos Allendes said on Tuesday. BHP declined to comment. BHP was the JSE top 40 index’s heaviest casualty on Wednesday morning, falling 4.6% to R198.76. The resource 10 index fell 2%. "The negotiation remains stalled," Allendes said by telephone. "The process is going through a phase of putting the cards on the table and seeing what are the demands of both sides." Before progressing to another discussion on wages, the union wanted management to guarantee that benefits and working hours would remain intact and no distinction would be made between existing workers and new hires. On Monday, the t...
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