CHILEAN MINERS WIDEN THEIR STRIKE STRUGGLE —
The class struggle in Chile has taken a decidedly militant turn since 7,000 miners at the Braden Copper Co., a subsidiary of. the Kennecott Copper Corp., went out on strike January 3 at El Teniente, the world's largest, underground copper mine.
In order to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of Living, the: miners had asked for a wage increase of seventy per cent. The com—. | pany offered only thirty per cent.
The strike had political overtones inasmuch as the Frei_ government won office on a demagogic platform that aroused ‘considerable hope among the: populace. The miners' action was a sign of . impatience over Frei's slowness in delivering on his campaign pledges,
Since then, sympathy strikes have flared at various other mines. On February 16, some 11,500 miners at four Anaconda Co. mines. staged a two-day solidarity strike. After strikes at three other. Anaconda mines, the government declared the strikes illegal and arrested twelve union leaders.
Finally, on March - ll, police ‘opened fire on - copper miners in: front of police headquarters in El Salvador. Five persons were killed and twenty-five injured. The struggle began when a crowd of 1,000 sought to persuade the night shift at the Anaconda mine not to. report to work. Eighty-five police and soldiers went to union headquarters to "end" the demonstration. Met with "knives and rocks, " they retreated but were followed by the crowd.
Defense }Minister Juan de Dios Carmona informed leaders of the. Copper Workers Federation that "further violence" would not be tolerated. President Frei was reported to be holding emergency meetings with government officials.
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