Peru port workers end 21-day strike

Peruvian port workers have signed a labour accord to end a 21-day strike, according to Bloomberg.


According to industry sources, the strike had blocked transportation of minerals and grains from the country’s largest shipping terminal.
About 580 stevedores had started loading container ships in Lima’s port of Callao, which handles a third of Peru’s exports and 70% of imports, Mario Hart, vice president of the Peruvian Port Operators Association, said in a telephone interview.


“The stoppage particularly slowed imported grain and fertilizer shipments,” Hart said. “It’ll take at least a week to clear the backlog.”


Port workers have agreed to negotiate with stevedore firms for higher wages, and early retirement benefits, after Peru increased annual exports of metals and fishmeal fourfold in the past seven years to last year’s recorded total of $35 billion.


Stevedores will each receive a salary advance of $250 to compensate for lost wages during the strike, Hart said.


The strike delayed copper, zinc and lead shipments from central Andean miners including Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SAA and Volcan Cia. and Minera SAA.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)