By 1973 the funding of the pension fund was low, though 73% of all Chilean workers paid into the system.

The Chilean workers yearly contributions in the private pension fund are amounting to about 3.5% of gross domestic product.

He talks about the need to improve safety and says he will announce a new deal for Chilean workers in the coming days.

This has always been how Chilean workers have endured and persisted in the face of tremendous challenges.

But there's also another kind of risk to consider, one that Chilean workers kept mentioning to me.

It could, say, impose stricter environmental standards on Mexico and Chile and give Mexican and Chilean workers the right to bargain collectively.

In 1947, Hurtado entered the labor movement, shepherding Chilean workers.

Chilean workers must set aside 10 percent of their earnings in any of 21 private but heavily regulated pension plans.

He said that such restrictions would hurt Chileans who had invested in the export-oriented businesses and that in the end many Chilean workers would suffer.

The Chileans are worried that sanctions would hurt Chilean workers more than a trade deal would help them.