Vale workers agree on 5-year contract

Unionized Vale (VALE-N) employees that work at nickel operations in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ont., have voted about 75% in favour of a five-year collective agreement, putting an end to one of the longest strikes in Canadian history.

The one-year standoff resulted in a deal for the United Steelworkers Locals 6500 and 6200 that includes wage increases, switching from a defined-benefit to a defined-contribution pension plan for new hires, and a new structured bonus tied to the price of nickel.

The nickel bonus was one of the key points of contention between Vale and union members who in the past have added up to $20 per hour to their regular wages when the nickel price was high. Now employees can earn up to $15,000 per year in addition to their regular earnings.

“We congratulate our members for the determination, spirit and solidarity they demonstrated over the last year in their unprecedented struggle against this huge multinational corporation,” said Wayne Rae, Local 6200 president, in a statement.

Although more than 3,000 people walked off the job (somewhat figuratively, as many had already been laid off due to a summer shutdown) in July 2009, Cory McPhee, Vale’s vice-president of corporate affairs, says about 2,500 will be back to work within six weeks.

The company estimates that about 500 people have retired over the last year but McPhee says it isn’t sure how many people may have found alternative employment. “We don’t know if there are people who won’t be returning,” McPhee says.

The strike stirred up a lot of tension and animosity between Vale, the union, and contract workers who went back to work during the strike. Adding to the fire was the fact that Vale, a huge Brazil-based miner, only acquired the nickel operations when it bought Inco in 2006 for $19.4 billion in a hotly contested takeover battle.

“I think that any time you have a 12-month labour dispute, it’s a very confrontational atmosphere,” McPhee says. “We recognize there are relationships with employees that will have to be rebuilt, and we want to work collaboratively with the union as well.”

Vale operations in Sudbury are operating at half capacity right now and will be at full capacity once everyone’s back to work.

About 120 workers at Vale’s Voisey’s Bay nickel operation in Labrador are still on strike. They’ve been fighting over a collective agreement since last August.