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In a country where labor conflicts are becoming increasingly common, the mining companies that operate in Peru are watching closely to see how large an impact the new strike will have.

In this interview, BNamericas spoke with Vidal Espinoza Lara, secretary of the FNTMMSP, to hear more details about the federation's demands and its explanation for why it believes it is necessary to halt operations in order for its requests to be met.

BNamericas: What is the motivation behind this call for federation employees to strike?

Espinoza: Our demands revolve around three issues. The first is regarding the share of company profits that are issued to miners.

Based on current legislation, there is a limit on how much you can pay each employee, which is the equivalent of 18 monthly salary payments. That means if I earn 1,000 soles per month (US$363), they would not be able to pay me over 18,000 soles that month regardless of how much the company has earned in profits.

But with current metals prices, profits from large-scale mining are extremely high and the contribution that should correspond to the employees is significant. And the fact [that a ceiling exists] reflects an unfair practice in terms of profits.

BNamericas: Did the high metal prices spark this issue?

Espinoza: Yes, before when metals were at lower prices it wasn't such an important issue because profits at these companies weren't as high are they are now. If the company wins and the state wins, why can't the worker win?

BNamericas: When were the current profit share guidelines established?

Espinoza: They have been altered a few times in recent years but the current structure has been in effect since the last government administration.

BNamericas: So the federation is asking that the law regulating profit share be modified?

Espinoza: Precisely. Right now there is a bill circulating to eliminate the ceiling for profit sharing which has been approved by the congressional committee and is expected to be debated by legislators in a full session this week [May 5-9].

So we're hoping for news about that this week and if we don't hear anything, it means that lawmakers are not taking countrywide conflicts into account.

BNamericas: If the bill is approved, how long would it take to go into effect?

Espinoza: After being approved in congress, it moves to the executive office and must be signed into effect within 30 days.

BNamericas: What are the federation's other demands?

Espinoza: The second issue has to do with internalizing subcontracted employees at mining companies.

Congress also has to debate the outsourcing bill this week which was also approved by the corresponding committee.

BNamericas: You must be aware of the debate surrounding subcontracted workers at Chilean state copper company Codelco and the protests that have been carried out to demand that many of them be internalized and receive better salaries. Have the conflicts in Chile had an influence on the situation with contracted workers in Peru?

Espinoza: Well, continuing along the same logic in terms of the union in general, for us in Peru it's more about the exploitation of workers as a way of getting cheap labor.

The government should be aware of this reality and promote an equitable law for all that does not discriminate and does not allow the degree of exploitation that exists in the country's mining sector. For example, a contracted employee at a large-scale Peruvian mining company earns 90 soles per day at the minimum while a subcontracted laborer earns an average of 65 soles per day or as low as 35 soles per day. That is a tremendous difference.

And if those subcontracted employees try to form unions to fight the fact that they're being taken advantage of, they are relieved of their duties. They are not allowed to band together.

BNamericas: The third issue in the discussion is related to affiliation with pension and retirement funds. Can you describe that situation in detail?

Espinoza: There are two pension systems in Peru: the national system and the private system, which is made up of pension fund associations called AFPs.

At an AFP, retirement age is 65 for everyone while an employee affiliated with the national system can retire at 45 in the case of underground miners because a special framework applies to miners.

In the national system, miners working at open-pit mines can retire at 50 years old if they have contributed to the fund for at least 30 years. Miners working at underground deposits have to contribute for 20 years. Employees at concentrator plants can retire at 55 after 30 years of contribution.

Do you think that a miner is going to reach the age of 65 in order to retire? If the worker is still in good enough shape to continue working at that age, that worker won't be allowed to keep working. The result is that the pension money stays in the hands of the AFPs.

Most miners are part of an AFP, which requires that they sign indefinite contracts. That practice condemns them to continue in the private system forever. What we are asking for is to be able to disassociate freely from AFPs.

BNamericas: How many unions are onboard with the strike so far?

Espinoza: We have called for 62 federation-affiliated unions to take part from 27 mining companies. So far it isn't possible to say exactly how many will participate because several are holding assemblies this week.

BNamericas: In terms of the protests, do you expect them to be peaceful or is there a likelihood that they will turn violent?

Espinoza: That is going to depend on the attitude of the companies and the government. If they provoke us, we are also going to have to respond, right?

The newspaper quoted President Alan Garcia as telling police to act 'energetically' during the strike. That is practically a provocation. We aren't delinquents. We are just fighting for our rights.