Chile, unions reach agreement to end ports strike

The government of Chile reached a deal with union leaders early Saturday to end a month-long strike at several ports that had crippled the nation's export sector. "We have reached an agreement with workers that satisfactorily reflects their concerns," Labor Minister Juan Carlos Jobet said after three days of intense negotiations to hammer out the deal. government yielded to workers' demands for a paid half-hour meal break each day, retroactive to 2005. A union spokesman, Sergio Vargas, insisted that workers would not return until the companies that operate the ports have signed the agreement. Work at several ports in southern Chile had ground to a halt during the labor stoppage, which saw solidarity strikes at shipyards in other parts of the country. The strike had a major impact on Chile's huge fruit and vegetable export market, which the government said suffered $80 million in losses.