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26 July, 2010
Negotiations to end the Canadian strike between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and the Brazilian-based mining company Vale in Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador, failed on 19-20 July when the company put forward a far inferior bonus plan compared to what USW members in Ontario agreed to on 8 July.
Vale refused to offer Local 9508 members a similar bonus plan that it gave USW members in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, and it refused to discuss other outstanding issues of a renewal collective agreement unless Labrador workers accepted an inferior bonus scheme.
Some 230 members of USW Local 9508 will mark one-year on picket lines in copper and nickel mines and port and processing operations in Labrador on 1 August.
USW District 6 Director Wayne Fraser called on the provincial government of Labrador/Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams to intervene. In a 21 July letter to Williams, Fraser said, “It is indisputable that out union and its members at Voiseys Bay – like their colleagues in Ontario who recently ended their year-long strike – have shown flexibility and a willingness to compromise to achieve a fair collective agreement with Vale.
Wayne Fraser, USW District 6 Director
“Mr. Premier, we trust you and your government will agree it is unacceptable that a massively profitable foreign corporation such as Vale would treat Newfoundland and Labrador workers as second-class employees. We also trust you will use every means at your disposal to ensure Vale treats the working families of Newfoundland and Labrador with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
The nickel bonus offer presented in Labrador consists of Vale-controlled criteria, such as individual work performance, safety issues, and other unilateral mechanisms. None of these conditions are contained in the Ontario agreement. As well, Vale is insisting on a lower cap on the bonus than what was accepted in Sudbury and Port Colborne.
Besides the 230 members of three bargaining units of Local 9508 on strike, 50 workers employed by Ushitou Maintenance also have been on strike since 1 June 2010. These workers are also members of Local 9508, and perform electrical, pipefitting, instrumentation, and other functions for Vale at its Voiseys Bay operations.
Vale continues to use scab labour to operate Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay. On Wednesday, 28 July, all unions in Labrador/Newfoundland will meet in St. Johns under the umbrella of the provincial Federation of Labour Council. Trade unions will discuss taking action on a push to adopt anti-scab and binding arbitration legislation in the province, as well as to discuss methods to get the Tory premier, Danny Williams, to use his office to re-start negotiations.
In Sudbury and Port Colborne, some members of USW Locals 6500 and 6200 have returned to their rightful jobs, with most of the 3,000 staff expected to return throughout August. Members of the two locals are under a joint agreement and on 8 July, ratified a five-year labour contract that ended a 360-day strike in Ontario.