The company’s main union is demanding more rest time, better wages, higher bonuses for miners, and compensation for those fired for the time they worked there.

In a bid to resolve the dispute, the Labor Direction called for mediation, which failed because the parties could not reach an agreement.

The union accused the company of conditioning talks on suspensioning the work stoppage and limiting the dialogue to only two of its demands.

BHP offered each worker an end-of-conflict bonus, a two-percent wage adjustment, and a 100-percent health insurance plan, which the union said was insufficient.

ef/iff/arc/car