Codelco Contractors Strike at Chile Copper Smelter (Update3)

July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Codelco contract workers at the Ventanas copper smelter in Chile went on strike today after failing to reach an accord over pay, a union official said.

The strike by more than 100 workers disrupted deliveries to ports, said Luciano Huerta, the treasurer of Chile's Copper Workers Confederation, known as CTC.

"We are going to continue until the company presents a new proposal," Huerta said by telephone from the smelter.

The smelter in central Chile is operating normally during the strike, a Codelco official briefed on the matter said in an e-mailed response to questions. Wage talks resumed today, said the official, who can't be named because of company policy.

Ventanas, one of Codelco's six divisions, produced 384,819 metric tons of refined copper last year. The division exports copper through the ports of Quintero and Valparaiso on Chile's central coast. State-owned Codelco is the world's largest copper producer.