Corporate operations:
Carla Lacey, on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated stockholders of Southern Copper Corporation, and derivatively on behalf of Southern Copper Corporation
In April 2019, a derivative lawsuit was filed against the Company, certain current and former Directors, and Grupo Mexico in the Delaware Court of Chancery relating to certain construction contracts, contracts for the purchase and sale of minerals, and transportation contracts entered into between the Company’s subsidiaries and subsidiaries of Grupo Mexico.
In October 2019, the plaintiff amended the complaint to include claims related to certain administrative services contracts between the Company’s subsidiaries and Grupo Mexico. The amended complaint alleges, among other things, that the construction, mineral, transportation, and administrative services contracts were unfair as a result of breaches of fiduciary duties and the Company’s charter. The amended complaint also added Americas Mining Corporation (“AMC”) as a defendant, alleging that AMC breached its fiduciary duties as a controlling stockholder of the Company. The amended complaint seeks, among other things, unspecified monetary damages. In January 2020, the Company, the current and former Directors, and Grupo Mexico responded to the complaint by filing motions to dismiss. The Plaintiff filed a brief in response to the motions on March 13, 2020. On July 16, 2020, the Court denied the motions to dismiss the breach of fiduciary duty claims against the Directors. On October 6, 2020, the Court dismissed the Plaintiff’s claims against Grupo Mexico for lack of personal jurisdiction. On February 11, 2021, the Court granted the Directors’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s breach of contract claim. The Court also granted AMC’s motion to dismiss all claims against AMC other than those related to the mineral contracts.
On July 12, 2021, the parties reached an agreement-in-principle to settle the lawsuit, subject to Court approval. On September 29, 2021, the parties filed a Stipulation and Agreement of Compromise, Settlement and Release with the Court. On February 1, 2022, the Judge approved the settlement and awarded certain fees to the plaintiff’s attorneys. The Judge’s order for this decision was registered on February 2, 2022. Under applicable law, there was a 30-day period for parties to appeal the Judge's order. This period expired on March 4, 2022, and therefore the Judge's order is considered final.
Labor matters:
Peruvian operations: 71.7% of the Company's 4,544 Peruvian employees were unionized at September 30, 2022. Currently, there are six separate unions, none of which represents the majority of workers, as defined by current Peruvian labor legislation.
During 2021, the Company hold talks with the six unions to sign collective agreements prior to their effective dates. As a result, between June and December 2021, the Company signed collective agreements with the six unions with durations between three to six years. All of them granted annual salary increases of 5%. Additionally, each agreement granted, among other things, a signing bonus of between S/45,000 (approximately $11,749) and S/90,000 (approximately $23,499), depending on the duration of the agreement. A long-term agreement bonus of S/10,000 (approximately $2,611) was granted to the union that signed a six-year extension of the collective bargaining agreement. All these concepts were recorded as labor expense. In 2022, these collective agreements have been executed. The Company does not have any collective agreement pending to be negotiated with the unions. As of September 30, 2022, it is only pending a signing bonus and a salary increase for one union in compliance with an 20218-2019 Arbitration Award.
In the first half of 2022, the six unions came together to defend their rights to work in the Cuajone unit. This action was in response to the cut off of water supply and the obstruction of a railroad section carried out by a small group of residents from the community of Tumilaca, Pocata, Coscore and Tala, Moquegua, which directly affected the health and safety of workers and their families and the production process.
Mexican operations: In recent years, the Mexican operations have experienced a positive improvement in their labor environment, as workers opted to change their affiliation from the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalurgicos y Similares de la Republica Mexicana (the “National Mining Union”) to other less politicized unions.