Bloomberg reported that Shougang Corp and union officials are scheduled to hold labor talks as a strike by iron miners in Peru over wages enters its sixth day.

A union official said that workers at iron ore mining company Shougang Hierro Peru SAA expect the Labor Ministry to set a wage increase next week. The spokesman added that miners walked off the job on July 13 to demand a 6 soles (USD 2) daily pay raise.

The spokesman said that “The company’s policy is not to yield and wait for the Labor Ministry to impose a solution. But even so, problems persist with working conditions.”

Shougang workers have staged five strikes in the past two years, adding to labor unrest at zinc, gold and silver mines in Peru this year. Spot iron-ore prices in China have risen 19 percent since the end of April to $810 a ton.

Mr Raul Vera deputy manager of Shougang said that the strike shut down the mine this week. He said that “We want to solve this issue as quickly as possible. But negotiations are difficult as the union has an extreme position.”

(Sourced from Bloomberg.net)