Workers at Chilean state ports in Valparaiso, San Antonio, San Vicente and Arica returned to their jobs on Thursday after reaching an agreement with the government late Wednesday, said union leaders.
Stevedores returned to work in Chile's main state port, Valparaiso, in the center, at 8:00 a.m. (1200 GMT) on Thursday, Carmen Mayorga, member of the Chilean Maritime Confederation, told Reuters.
Slightly south in nearby San Antonio, workers returned to their jobs also at 8:00 a.m. local time, said Rufino Jaque, president of the stevedores union there.
In the state port in Antofagasta, located 845 miles (1,360 km) north of Santiago on the edge of the world's most arid desert, workers planned to return to work at 3:30 p.m. local (1930 GMT) on Thursday but on the condition that negotiations between the government and local union leaders start by 12:00 p.m. local (1600 GMT) on Friday, said Luis Mendez, treasurer at the stevedores union there. If talks do not start by then, the workers will walk off the job again, he said.
Employees in Antofagasta feel left out of previous negotiations, Mendez said. "No one paid any attention to us. Now we are going to begin to bang our fists on the table,'' he said. Workers in Antofagasta have a unique situation because many of them could lose their jobs in a few years if a rival megaport is built just north in the bay of Mejillones, as the government plans.
In the state port of Arica, near the border with Peru, workers went back to their shifts at 8:00 a.m. local on Thursday, said Carlos Farfan, president of the stevedores union there. However, they must still evaluate the pact reached on Wednesday to see if they agree with it, he said. It is possible that they strike again if they do not like it, he added.
Union leaders at the state port in San Vicente were unable to be reached, but Mayorga said they were back on the job. Presidential Chief of Staff Jose Miguel Insulza and union leaders signed an agreement late Wednesday to end the state port strike, but at the time it was not clear if some disgruntled staff would return to work. Union leaders later said some workers misunderstood the agreement.
Workers at state ports in Antofagasta, San Antonio, Valparaiso, and San Vicente, walked off their jobs Friday, and Arica later joined them. They feared that they will be fired when the private sector begins operating the ports.
Stevedores at Iquique, in northern Chile, have been on strike since July 23, demanding higher pay. They were still striking on Thursday, said a press official at the port. On Thursday, Chile sold to private investors for $294 million the rights to operate temporarily terminals at Valparaiso, San Antonio and San Vicente. The government plans to do the same for Arica and Iquique.
