Codelco subcontractors call Bachelet to resolve conflict

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SANTIAGO.-  The president of the Copper Worker’s Confederation, Cristián Cuevas, maintained that the President, and not the courts, should be the one to settle the issues between Codelco and the Worker’s Council for the transfer of some 5 thousand workers to plants.

“The President of the Republic should be the one to clear up the matter, and don´t tell me that the institutions work, because the institutions were working and the people of Codelco say ‘no’ because it looks bad”, he stated.

According to Cuevas, the Executive Branch has acted in a “contradicting” way, encouraging workers to “advance towards decent jobs, but in the end, everything ends up to be the opposite”.

He added that he does not trust the courts to remain impartial saying, “we will fight the battle on the streets, not in the courts.  We’ll go to the courts, but the problem is not going to be resolved there”.

“They say that justice is blind in our country, but it seems like it always has one eye looking at corporate power”, he argued.