12 July, 2010The Brazilian mining company and 3,100 USW members now begin a five-year collective agreement after a contentious strike that ended with both sides compromising on terms in mediated bargaining.
CANADA: With a 75 per cent ratification vote announced late on July 8, Canadian nickel mining and processing workers represented by United Steelworkers (USW) Locals 6500 and 6200 in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, ended a 360-day strike against Vale SA.
Those terms were pieced together in high-level mediation from June 19-22 in Toronto. But final accord still eluded both sides due to differences in setting forth a just process through arbitration of Vale's unilateral sacking of nine strikers. Over July 3 and 4, through the insistence of Ontario Provincial Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, a process was established, opening the way for the July 7 and 8 contract vote.
The contract acceptance in Ontario thus closes a chapter to one of Canada's most acrimonious labour disputes, a dispute that saw mining and other unions from around the world galvanize behind the USW in efforts to preserve previously negotiated wage and work terms. The IMF and International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) helped coordinate the global campaign.
In a joint statement, IMF and ICEM General Secretaries Jyrki Raina and Manfred Warda said, "The perseverance and character of USW members in Ontario and Labrador is what trade unions everywhere will remember about this strike. Their fight became our fight and thus they laid the building blocks on how to wage a coordinated global campaign."
Highlights of the new collective agreement, which runs until May 31, 2015, include:
• Across-the-board, hourly wage increases with cost-of-living increases each of the five years. Thus, bringing the wage hike to between 2.25 USD and 2.50 USD an hour over the life of the agreement.
• Improvements to the existing Defined Benefit Pension Plan increasing to 41,400 USD per year, with cost-of-living indexing for life, along with life-time health care benefits.
• A Defined Contribution Pension Plan for new hires that provides for Company contributions equal to eight per cent of employees' regular basic earnings. As well, employees will be able to make additional contributions ranging from two per cent to six per cent of regular earnings, with matching contributions from the Company subject to certain limits. The new plan also will include Long Term Disability coverage for employees.
• As a result of sustained, hard-fought negotiations, the nickel bonus program will allow employees to earn up to 15,000 USD annually in addition to regular earnings.
In the USW's statement announcing the ratification, District Six Director Wayne Fraser said, "Our members have spoken and I believe everyone respects the decisions they have made in extremely difficult circumstances."