Trapped miners may not be paid

Nick Allen, The Daily Telegraph August 31, 2010

The 33 Chilean miners trapped underground may not be paid for months while rescuers try to reach them, leaving their families with no income. The San Esteban company, which operates the mine, has said it has no money to pay wages and is not even taking part in the rescue. It has suggested that it may go bankrupt and its licence has been suspended. Evelyn Olmos, the leader of the miners' union, called on Chile's government to pay the workers' wages from next month. He said the government should also help about 100 others at the mine who were now out of work, and 170 more who worked elsewhere for San Esteban. "We want the government to pay our salaries in full until our comrades are freed and then pay our severances. The company should be in debt to the government, not to the workers," Mr Olmos said.

But Laurence Golborne, Chile's mining minister, said labour laws prevented the authorities paying the miners' salaries or pensions. Instead, they would offer them training to find other jobs when they came out. He said it was up to the company to pay them and the issue would have to be decided in the courts.