Layoffs at Vale's Sudbury operations not affecting members of Local 6500

Some non-union staff at Vale in the Sudbury area are being laid off, but the company is not saying how many or what positions are being affected.

After initially declining comment Thursday, Vale offered some details in a statement Friday.

"This week we initiated staff changes aimed at making Vale Base Metals more resilient, agile and competitive across our assets for sustained long-term growth," the company said in an email.

"This new decentralized structure means that some of our people in non-operating roles will be leaving us. We remain committed to the region and our business, perhaps best evidenced on Tuesday with our announcement of the successful completion of the Voisey’s Bay mine expansion project, which was a US$2.94 billion investment in Canada. This necessary action positions us to better withstand current market conditions while ensuring our ability to achieve the potential of our assets and mineral endowment for the benefit of all our stakeholders."

Raymond Hammond, vice-president of Steelworkers Local 6500 in Sudbury, said his union's members have not been affected.

"The only information I can share is that the company is reorganizing management and the union has not been informed of any actions that will affect its membership at this time," Hammond said.

Vale Base Metals' business is headquartered in Toronto and is one of the world’s largest producers of low carbon nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals.

The company employs 6,170 people in Canada and has operations in Thompson, Man., and Voisey's Bay, Nlfd., in addition to Sudbury.

While its long-term prospects are good as a source of nickel and other metals for electric vehicle batteries, Vale has been affected by low commodity prices.

The price of a pound of nickel was about US $7.10 on the London Metals Exchange on Dec. 5.

• Download the CTV News app now
• Get local breaking news alerts
• Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox