The United Steelworkers and unions representing striking Asarco workers are set to meet with the company to resume bargaining on Nov. 14.
About 2,000 workers at Asarco copper mines and smelters in Arizona and Texas went out on strike Oct. 13 after rejecting the company's final offer.
Asarco has reportedly suspended some operations amid the strike at its Mission Mine near Sahuarita and its smelter operations in Hayden and Winkelman.
Asarco also operates the Silver Bell Mine in Marana, the Ray Mine near the Hayden operations in Central Arizona and a refinery in Amarillo, Texas.
The Asarco production and maintenance workers have been working without a new contract since their last contract expired in November 2018, and they have had no wage increases since 2009.
Unions led by the Steelworkers say Asarco’s final, four-year contract proposal included no wage increase for nearly two-thirds of workers, would freeze the existing pension plan, and more than double the out-of-pocket contribution individual workers now pay for health care.
About 85% of Asarco’s hourly workers are union members.
Besides the Steelworkers, other unions represented at Asarco include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Teamsters, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers.
