Strike brings Falco down in Sudbury

Two months of negotiations between union workers and Falconbridge (FL-T) have ended in failure, forcing the major to shut down its mining and milling operations in Sudbury, Ont.

Members of the Sudbury Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Local 598 of the Canadian Auto Workers walked off the job in protest against, among other things, Falco’s use of non-union staff. The union represents 1,050 production and maintenance employees, or about 80% of Falco’s workforce in Sudbury.

“Our objective is to reach an agreement as quickly as possible . . . and we are still hopeful of a quick resolution,” said Falco President Aaron Regent.

Toward that end, both Falco and the union have agreed to begin preliminary discussions with a conciliator of Ontario’s Ministry of Labour. A resumption of formal negotiations may follow.

Falco’s nickel production will slip by about 2,000 tonnes for each month the strike continues. Similarly, its copper output is reduced by 2,400 tonnes per month and its cobalt output, by 40-50 tonnes per month.

Falco notes that the smelter will continue running at about 40-50% capacity, relying mainly on feed from the Raglan mine in northern Quebec. Also, there is enough material in the pipeline to keep the Nikkelverk refinery in Norway supplied for about six weeks.

Falco is the world’s third-largest nickel producer, after Norilsk of Russia and Inco (N-T). Falco’s Sudbury operations account for 5% of world production.