 It also decided, and announced publicly, that it could not afford to, and would not, shut down for a strike.In April 1983, Phelps Dodge began negotiating with a coalition of its 13 labor unions, led by the United Steel Workers.Phelps Dodge insisted that it required elimination of cost-of-living adjustment, a freeze in wages, worker copays for health care, and a lower wage scale for new hires.