The trade union said that striking workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru, who will be forced to return to work March 23,2017 by a labor ministry ruling, will immediately restart the strike on March 24, 2017. The 13-day stoppage by 1,300 miners, which began March 10, 2017 was declared illegal by the ministry last week, granting the company the power to fire striking workers, union general secretary Zenón Mujica told BNamericas. The company and the union have been unable to reach agreement on a bigger share of profits, safer working conditions and improved health benefits. Cerro Verde, which is close to the city of Arequipa and is the large copper mine in Peru, has been operating at 50% of capacity after hiring extra personnel in addition to its 300 non-union workers, according to the union. Workers last staged a strike at the mine in 2011.