 Welcome to the International Daily Roundup with People's Just Paths where we bring you some of the top stories from across the globe. Let's take a look at today's headlines. Workers are the world's largest copper mine in Chile set to go on strike. Noomsa calls on workers to unite as wage talks hit deadlock in South Africa. US Labor Relations Board reports says Amazon interfered with union elections and for our final story we look at the case against real-estrone program whistleblower Daniel Hale. In our first story we go to Chile where over 2,300 miners have announced a strike. Workers at the Escondida copper mine rejected the latest contract offered by its owners by 99.5%. In the vote held over the weekend, 2,164 workers approved the strike while 11 voted against. Located in the Atacama Desert Escondida is the world's largest copper mine producing around 5% of all global supply. It is controlled by the Anglo-Australian BHP company Rio Tinto and the Japanese GECO Corporation and GECO2 Limited World, the remaining shares. The strike would follow nearly two months of negotiations for an agreement. The workers are being represented by union number one at Escondida. In its last offer the company had proposed a benefits payment of 18 million pesos. However, the union stated that the agreement would increase working time and operation demands and reduce breaks. It would also impact the protections given to sick workers. The contract also included a 1% pay rise which fell way short of the 5% hike demanded by workers. They are asking to be compensated for working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a statement by the union, the mines owners are set to earn $10 billion in revenue in 2021. It has demanded that 1% of the dividends given to invest distributed equally among all workers. Other demands include performance-based compensation, education for their children and a better system for career development. Meanwhile, BHP approached the labor directorate in an effort to avoid work stoppage. Filing negotiations will now take place for a mandatory 5-10-day period after which the strike will begin. Escondida workers had previously held a 44-day strike in 2017. This led to $740 million in losses and contracted the Chilean GDP by 1.3%. In our next story, we look at the ongoing wage talks in South Africa's steel and engineering sector. The National Union of Metal Workers or NUMSA has rejected an offer made by the CSR. The Federation had proposed a 4.4% increase across the board for the first year. This would be followed by a 0.5% increase in the second year and a 1% increase in the third. Meanwhile, NUMSA had sent a revised proposal of an 8% increase in the first year. This would be followed by a 2% per year increase with some flexibility. The union has stated that workers had signed a stance-still agreement during the lockdowns in 2020. Despite this, they faced a retrenchment during the pandemic. It has also rejected the special dispensation measure proposed by the employer's association. This will introduce a new entry rate between 20 to 29 grand for employers not paying the minimum wage. NUMSA argues that this will essentially drive down wages in the industry. The union has now registered a dispute against the CSR and other associations in the bargaining council. It has also asked workers to prepare for the mother-of-all strikes if employers refuse to settle the talks. Here is NUMSA General Secretary Irwin Jim to talk more about this issue. In so far as us as a union that takes care of the interest of workers, that in every round of negotiations we go the duty not only to take care of the workers but to engage employers and understand their concerns but also look on what is being presented on the table. The current offer on the table left us with no option but to reject it. We got our backs against the wall. There's no way that NUMSA can even think to consider what is on the table. I think in essence what employers are attempting to do in a very sneaky way is basically to continue to want to offer a 0% on increase this year and maybe to sum it up they just want another standstill agreement. We reject that. We are very firm that workers this year against the backdrop of many many workers in the industry we have not received increases since 2014 with us in 2020 not having signed a standstill agreement which was basically a wage freeze employers must make a real offer in the first year that's why we're putting 8% on the table and we're saying we're flexible in there in the following year we're giving them a very flexible position and in our view they should grab that and there should be no need for us to end up in a strike because we're saying they should offer CPI plus 2% improvement factor if CPI plus 2% improvement factor we're putting on the table fall below 6% they should give us 6% if they feel that CPI is harsher for them then they can reopen negotiations so the union we're flexible for the following two years but we're saying the first year they must make an offer because that will be crucial and we are amenable because it will ensure that we have a base that ensure that the following years are a bit better as the economy is recovering and we're open to negotiations in the form of bilaterals to engage with employers to understand their situation but we are not willing to take a blanket approach where we say to employers you're not going to give an increase you are going to have a new entry rates in the industry on a basis that you can afford when you have not opened up your books and disclosed so genuinely we're saying to employers if they are honest and transparent there's many ways of skinning the cat united we stand divided we fall is about the fact that what any sector that is confronted with what we're confronted with it is engineering today it is going to be the auto sector tomorrow we live in a community that have survived any particular crisis at the back of standing together when workers are on strike it's important that the entire community must basically understand what are the demands must understand that every worker work in that community support five to six extended families and if there are social activities those work make particular contribution to uplift the community they are of their source of assistance and support in whatever that have been in the community we're simply making one point that we cannot discuss solidarity at engineering with engineering workers only when engineering workers are on strike all other sectors must begin to debate that because if engineering end up indeed in a strike workers in other sectors can embark on a strike in solidarity with those workers it is engineering this year it will be the auto sector next year and the motor sector we need these sectors to begin to give support to each other because we're facing a government that has adopted austerity measures if we had a progressive government it could announce that employers in any industry can't pay less than this particular national minimum wage which must be a living wage which must break with the apartheid past of super exploitation of black and African labour the US National Labour Relations Board initiated that Amazon interfered in the union election in Alabama over 3,200 out of the nearly 6,000 workers at the BHM one-way house cast their ballots in February and March if the vote passed they would have become members of the retail wholesale and departments to a union however the action failed after 738 workers voted in favour of a wild 1,798 voted against hundreds of ballots were left uncounted after Amazon raised objections the RWDSU then filed appeal citing anti-union propaganda and surveillance of ballot boxes by Amazon workers had received brochures and text messages instructing them to know reports claimed that Amazon had also worked with local officials to change the timings of traffic lights outside the warehouse red stop lights would have given organisers the main issue raised by the RWDSU was the place where the ballot box was installed right outside the exit gates of the warehouse the union stated that this gave the impression that Amazon would be involved in counting the ballots the NLRB report found that this on-site placement was a unilateral decision of Amazon it argues that this destroyed the laboratory conditions necessary for the election the board's hearing officer has recommended that the results be avoided and a fresh election be held the findings have now been sent to the regional NLRB director who will issue a final ruling continuing with the US for a final story we look at the case of drone warfare whistleblower Daniel Hale he has been sentenced to 45 months in prison after pleading guilty to one charge under the Espionage Act Hale is a former US intelligence officer who was deployed to Afghanistan's background airbase he later worked for a defense contractor which is when he leaked 17 documents to the press these documents showed that 90% of the people killed during a drone operation were unintended targets they also showed how the US government placed people on watch lists over 40% of people in the database of suspects had no recognised terrorist group affiliation here is a video feature on his case of these only 19 were intended targets 136 were bystanders they were labelled as enemies killed in action just because they were near the target this means 90% of the victims of those drone strikes were not the intended targets they were likely civilians this information became public when Daniel Hale released 17 intelligence documents 11 of those were marked secret and top secret the documents also revealed that over 40% of the people labelled terror suspects by the US government had no clear affiliations with terror groups and that the US government targeted US citizens as well in Afghanistan and other countries Daniel Hale is a US Air Force veteran and former intelligence analyst during his military service he participated in the US drone program at Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base in 2019 he was arrested and charged with the espionage act and theft of government property in March this year Hale pleaded guilty to one count of the espionage act admitting that he leaked confidential documents in 2015 he has now been sentenced to 45 months in prison by a federal judge at his sentencing Hale said I am here because I stole something that was never mine today precious human life I couldn't keep living in a world in which people pretended that things weren't happening that war please your honor forgive me for taking papers instead of human lives Hale is the first prominent whistleblower to be handed a jail sentence under the espionage act since President Joe Biden took office documents released by Hale have brought to light the crimes committed by the US through its drone warfare then President Barack Obama had stated in 2014 that there had to be near certainty of no civilian casualties for a drone strike to be carried out Hale who provided intelligence for some of these strikes during his service saw the operations to be quite different ahead of his sentencing Hale's lawyers submitted an 11 page letter written by him in jail to the judge Hale wrote not a day goes by that I don't question the justification for my actions he said that the strikes may have been permissible by the rules of engagement but he did not believe that they were in any way necessary for the protection of the United States of America he also argued that the war in Afghanistan had very little to do with preventing terror from coming into the US and a lot more to do with protecting the profits of weapons manufacturers and so-called defense contractors Hale was indicted in 2019 around the same time as Julian Assange he is among the eight people who have been criminally prosecuted for leaking documents to the media under Donald Trump's administration he was the fifth to be charged with the Esplanade Act his indictment and conviction have been sharply criticized by activists, anti-war groups and rights organizations Court Pink organized a demonstration outside the courthouse where the sentencing took place they stated Hale had exposed the US government's criminal drone murder of innocent children and received a 45 month prison sentence Edward Snowden called Hale one of the great American whistleblowers the American Civil Liberties Union said leaks to press in the public interests should not be prosecuted under the Esplanade Act Daniel Hale helped the public learn about a lethal program that should never have been kept secret he should be thanked, not sentenced as a spy