Snapshot: In October 2023, the treasurer of a union representing workers at the Chuquicamata copper mine in Calama, northern Chile, filed a lawsuit before a local labour court against state-owned company Codelco, which owns and operates the mine. He alleged anti-union practices and breach of privacy after being placed under surveillance. In its response to the lawsuit, Codelco denied the allegations. In March 2025, the court ruled in favour of the union's treasurer. The case is closed.

Chuquicamata is an open pit copper mine located in Calama, in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile, owned and operated by the state-owned company Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco).

In October 2023, the Sindicato de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras Chuquicamata, a union representing workers at Codelco’s Chuquicamata division, carried out protest actions to demand the company’s compliance with a series of court rulings challenging the types of contracts (temporary, replacement, for specific works) that the company was using to employ part of its workers. Following these actions, the union’s treasurer and other union leaders reported that they were being followed and surveilled, including, in the treasurer’s case, at his private home.

On 17 October 2023, the union treasurer filed a lawsuit against Codelco before the labour court in Calama, alleging anti-union practices and breach of privacy and attributing the surveillance to the company. In its response to the lawsuit, Codelco denied the allegations.

On 10 March 2025, the court ruled that Codelco Chuquicamata division had engaged in anti-union practices because its security director had instructed ISS Chile, the company providing security services at the site, to follow and surveil union leaders, in particular the claimant. The court imposed a fine on the company.

The court also found that the company’s conduct infringed the claimant’s fundamental rights and constituted workplace harassment. It ordered the company to apologise to the claimant through newspaper publications and to pay him 20m Chilean pesos (over USD20,000) in moral damages.

The company did not appeal the ruling. The case is closed.

Juzgado laboral de Calama condena a empresa minera por práctica antisindical y seguimiento de dirigentes, Prensa y Comunicaciones del Poder Judicial, 13 Mar 2025

Sindicato Chuquicamata ha ganado juicio a Codelco por práctica antisindical, vulneración de derechos, además de persecución y vigilancia en contra de nuestro tesorero, Miguel Véliz Fernández, Sindicato Chuquicamata, 14 Mar 2025

Court documents: accessible here (Proceedings S-8-2023).