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After a half decade of wage freezes, in 2005 many metals workers demanded a bigger share of the windfall from soaring prices. Copper operations were particularly hard hit because of historic price increases, and operators are preparing for a tense 2006.

Labor contracts are set to expire at the Falconbridge (FAL) Horne copper smelter and CCR copper refinery in Montreal, Inco's (N) Copper Cliff refinery in Sudbury, Ontario, and Teck Cominco Ltd.'s (TEK.MV.A.T) Highland Valley copper mine in British Columbia.

Unions representing the Antamina copper and zinc mine in Peru, owned by BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Falconbridge, Teck Cominco and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.TO), will also sit at the bargaining table next year. At the end of 2006, a one-year contract will expire at Asarco's (ASX.XX) copper operations in Arizona and Texas.

"When the copper industry faced a decline in prices in the late 1990s or early 2000s, companies asked workers to tighten their belts and forgo price rises," said analyst David Duckworth of industry consultants CRU International. "These workers believe they took the knocks to help their management, and now want some reward, in the form of increased wages."

Such worker ire -- so bad for production -- could be a boost for prices. The ultimate impact will depend on the size of the emerging copper surplus.

"If there are further protracted strikes that keep the copper market tight for longer, than we'll see the current bull run continue for longer," said analyst Will Adams of BaseMetals. "But if the market is already trending lower and moving into surplus, the impact of strikes would be limited."

In Zambia, a strike by workers at Konkola Copper mines in July cost the company as much as $18 million in export revenues, and both analysts and mineworkers' labor representatives expect another confrontation in 2006 as Zambia's copper exports gain in importance to the country's economy.

"The industrial action we saw this year came about because the copper miners looked at the high prices being returned to the producers and felt cheated," said Albert Mando, general secretary for Zambia's National Miners and Allied Workers Union. "If necessary, we'll renegotiate again when the contract expires next summer."

The mineworkers' union plans labor talks during the fourth quarter at Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, at both its Salvador mine in Chile's Andes range and its Chuquicamata operations in northern Chile.

"Since 1994, we have worked together with the unions in securing the possible development of our company, to try to ensure it was an efficient operation," Villarzu said. "Back then, there were some problems. But since then, a tremendous change has happened."

The company has since reduced its staff by 10,000 workers, but has nearly doubled productivity and increased wages, which has had a major impact on costs, he added.

Steve Hunt, western Canada director for the country's United Steelworkers Union, will participate in the negotiations for Highland Valley Copper in 2006.

Hunt was involved in labor contract talks at Teck Cominco's Trail operations in British Columbia, where a strike lasted more than three months after negotiations over benefits broke down in July.

"This mine is making record profits and (worker) expectations will be high to make gains," he said. "Provided the employer approaches bargaining with more intelligence than (Teck Cominco) in Trail, a dispute is unlikely."

Though copper mines are expected to be the worst affected, other metals - chiefly aluminum - are also facing contract expirations amid the high price cycle.

A 36-month contract extension expires at Century Aluminum's (CENX) Ravenswood smelter in West Virginia, which has in the past been hit by wildcat strike action. That same month, a master contract covering the bulk of Alcoa Inc.'s (AA) smelters and rolling mills will end, though the company has had few big strikes in its history.

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