Worker strike in Chile at lithium producer Albemarle enters fourth week

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A strike by workers at lithium producer Albemarle Corp. in Chile enters its fourth week with few signs that the parties are ready to reach an agreement.

The world’s largest lithium producer says it is continuing to produce the battery metal after 135 members of the Salar union walked off their posts on Aug. 11 when wage negotiations collapsed.

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The workers accuse the company of anti-union practices and set up an encampment at the entrance to the facility to press for better conditions and wages.

On Thursday, a group of family members and other residents of Peine, at the southern end of the Atacama salt flat, protested in front of the facility in support of the strike. Many of the workers are from local indigenous communities.

The US-based company currently relies on about 600 workers in Chile and brine reserves to keep feeding a world lithium market under stress that doubled in price this year.

Windfall profits for metals producers embolden workers, just as Chile is drafting a new constitution that could lead to stricter water, mineral, and community rights rules.

At the same time, companies are looking to control labor costs because of the business’s cyclical aspect and rising input prices.

Albemarle has two production sites in northern Chile: the Salar plant in the Atacama Desert and La Negra near the city of Antofagasta.