The concessionaire company, Boliden Somincor, has decided to implement a new shift rotation model starting today at the Alentejo mine, involving four consecutive workdays followed by four days off (4×4).
This change prompted the Mining Industry Workers Union (STIM) to issue a strike notice for today and Tuesday for teams A and B at the mine’s bottom, continuing on June 20 and 21 for teams C and D in the same area.
According to a STIM statement, this decision violates “the company agreement that has been in force” since 2019, describing it as “incomprehensible that the company does not heed the majority of workers, which reveals its total lack of respect and arrogance.”
The union further accused the Neves-Corvo concessionaire of seeking to “extract more ore at the expense of its workers’ health and preventing them from having a dignified family and social life.”
In declarations to the regional newspaper “Correio Alentejo,” published on June 6 and cited by Lusa, Boliden Somincor’s general manager Gunnar Nyström stated that “the strike is an inalienable right of the workers, with each individual deciding whether to participate.”
The manager acknowledged that the company consulted workers “in accordance with legal provisions” regarding the proposed shift rotation change, which “is embedded in the company agreement currently in force” and “whose content was timely negotiated with STIM.”
According to Gunnar Nyström, “the shift rotation change to 4×4 is an essential measure to improve Somincor’s safety indices and increase the company’s production levels, reversing the negative trend observed in recent years.”
“This change will enable investment in projects that can extend the mine’s operational life, ensure job maintenance, and, notably, continue to improve the safety conditions of our workers,” he added.
The Neves-Corvo mine primarily produces copper and zinc concentrates, as well as silver and lead.
It is the largest zinc mine in Europe and the sixth largest copper mine on the continent, in addition to being the largest employer in the region, with about 2,000 workers.
The Alentejo mine’s concessionaire is Somincor, which Lundin Mining sold to Swedish company Boliden, along with the Zinkgruvan mine in Sweden, for approximately 1.44 billion euros, a deal finalized on April 16.
