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11 August, 2008
Despite week-long efforts to reach a new labour agreement, 500 members of three United Steelworkers (USW) local unions in Canada began a strike against the world’s largest potash mining company on 7 August.
Workers took up picket line duty at three underground mines and milling operations of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan in western Canada due to the company’s refusal to share portions of its record profits.
“The company simply refuses to move away from the offer that our members soundly rejected,” stated USW Western Canada Director Stephen Hunt, following four days of mediated talks last week.
“The company is making enormous profits, and it is time to reflect those profits with fair wages, pensions, and benefits,” he added. “In other words, share the wealth.”
During last week’s talks, the USW presented a counter-proposal to the company’s unacceptable three-year wage offer. That proposal asked for a commodities-based bonus scheme similar to other agreements in the mining industry. A prior labour agreement expired 30 April.
USW Locals 7458, 7689, and 189 in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan also seek wage, benefit, and pension increases that correspond to Potash Corp.’s record profits. The branch unions also want greater controls over the use of contract labour in the renewal agreement, an item the company has tentatively agreed to.
But the major sticking point is wages, bonuses, and benefits.
The company posted its largest quarterly profit margin in second quarter 2008, a whooping C$905.1 million in earnings, 220% better than the same quarter in 2007. In 2007, Potash Corp.’s net income was C$1.1 billion, and the USW cites company CEO Bill Doyle with holding stock options now worth C$600 million.
On 23 July, the USW issued the necessary 48-hour strike notice against the company. Management countered by giving the unions a 48-hour lockout notice. Five days later, the 180 USW members at the Cory mine and milling operation began rotating strikes.
Those departmental strikes ended the next day when the company agreed to return to the bargaining table. On 31 July, the unions demonstrated at Potash Corp. headquarters in the city of Saskatoon, presenting the company with a petition asking Doyle to address a meeting of all three local branches. Doyle had previously and very publicly stated that USW members should accept the inferior pay agreement.
A provincial mediator from Ontario then entered talks on 4 August but the company walked away from talks in the mid-afternoon of 7 August, refusing to consider the commodities-based bonus plan. A full strike began a few hours later at Cory, and the two other mines and processors, Allan and Patience Lake.
On news of the strike, prices for potash, one of the major nutrients used in fertilisers for farming, shot to over C$1,000-per-tonne, a record. The Cory, Allan, and Patience Lake mines and plants account for 18% of all Canadian potash supply and six percent of the world’s capacity. The three operations produce a combined 3.1 million tonnes of potash per year.