May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Cristian Cuevas used to serve meals to miners at Codelco, the world's biggest copper producer. Now he's serving up trouble for Codelco management.

Cuevas, the 39-year-old head of Chile's Confederation of Copper Workers, orchestrated the sometimes violent strike that has shut down production at three of five Codelco mines. Jose Arellano, Codelco's chief executive officer, said this week the walkout has cost the company almost $100 million in lost production since it began April 16.

``It seems management prefers to lose millions of dollars instead of resolving an issue that is of national interest,'' Cuevas said April 24 at a Santiago press conference, wearing a green military jacket and jeans. ``The big companies and multinationals earn money here, but workers earn miserable wages,'' he said in an interview later.

According to the confederation, the contract workers on strike typically receive 250,000 pesos ($544) a month, compared with 1.5 million pesos for regular Codelco employees, who aren't taking part in the walkout. Codelco has about 30,000 workers employed by subcontractors and 17,000 staff employees. A Codelco spokeswoman said the company doesn't disclose wages.

Copper futures have risen 21 percent this year to $3.6945 a pound yesterday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal hit a record $4.045 on April 17, on concern the walkout might thwart Codelco's efforts to reverse a three- year drop in output.

`Finely Balanced' Market

Cuevas, a member of Chile's Communist party, also led a strike last June and July that contributed to a 6.6 percent decline in Codelco production for the year and a 5.9 percent rise in global prices. Codelco accounts for more than 10 percent of the world's copper.

The bearded Cuevas, who sometimes wears a Middle Eastern kaffiyeh headdress around his neck, worked for a catering company that sells food to Codelco workers for eight years before leaving in 2004 to pursue his union work. His clout has climbed as global copper stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange have fallen more than 44 percent since January, fueled by growing demand in China.

``Anybody who gets up there and controls that kind of power is bound to have some influence,'' said Alex Heath, the head of base-metals trading at RBC Capital Markets in London. ``The market is so finely balanced that any disruptions of any supply anywhere in the world has an impact.''

More Violent

The current walkout is more violent than previous labor disputes in Chile, according to Tomas Flores, director of research at Santiago-based research group Libertad & Desarrollo.

Protesters armed with rocks and sling shots have clashed with riot police, blocking access to Codelco's El Salvador mine in northern Chile and the Andina mine in the central part of the country, according to company officials and press reports.

One Codelco employee was injured April 21 after demonstrators at a third mine, El Teniente, threw a metal object. Two more were hurt April 24 when rocks were hurled at a bus in the city of Rancagua.

``The union movement never used to be characterized by this type of violence,'' Flores said in an interview.

Codelco said April 27 that six men broke into the control room and stole computers and equipment at the Salvador mine, slowing production and causing delays.

Cuevas says his group isn't responsible for any of the violence, or the break-in and a fire at the Salvador mine.

`Cowardly' Attacks

``We haven't asked for this fight,'' he said in an April 23 press conference in Santiago, flanked by lawmakers including Isabel Allende, the daughter of former President Salvador Allende, who died in a coup in September 1973 that led to the 17-year military rule of Augusto Pinochet.

Codelco has criticized the confederation's tactics and has refused to meet with Cuevas, saying it has abided by an agreement reached after last year's strike.

``They have no right to attack people in a cowardly way,'' CEO Arellano said in a speech to employees on April 21. He said this week the strike has cut output by about 19,000 tons, or almost 1 percent of its production last year.

Cuevas, one of 11 sons of a Chilean coal miner, says his work as a labor activist was inspired in part by the hard times his family fell upon when Chile shut down its coal mines. ``I was committed to social justice from my infancy,'' he said.

He now wants to draw other contract employees into the fray, Cuevas says, and he has called for nationwide protests by such employees at supermarkets, salmon farms and vineyards.

``He's very passionate and he never gives up,'' said Andres Leal, one of 15 regional confederation leaders. ``It wouldn't surprise me if the union experience propels him to other things.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Craze in Santiago at mcraze@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 2, 2008 00:01 EDT