CWC | ESG Risks at Grupo México

This investor brief summarizes environmental, social, and governance risks at Grupo México, the third largest copper mining company in the world. Grupo México’s wholly-owned subsidiary ASARCO operates copper mines, a smelter, a refinery and processing plants in the United States. Approximately 1,700 workers in Arizona and Texas walked off the job in October 2019 to protest the company’s serious unfair labor practices1 after management demanded significant increases to healthcare costs and refused to raise wages, which would remain stagnant for 14 years under the company’s contract proposal.2 The strike has gained investor attention and crippled the company’s Hayden smelter and Amarillo refinery operations