'Members were expecting a longer battle,' Steelworkers say as Vale strike ends
After 64 days on the picket line, members of United Steelworkers Local 6500 will return to work at Vale Ltd. in Sudbury on Aug. 9.
A five-year contract was approved Tuesday evening, with 85 per cent of workers who took part voting in favour.
“Our members were expecting a longer battle,” said Myles Sullivan, of United Steelworkers District 6.
"They were prepared to do what it took to last as long as they needed to protect the benefits and make the gains that we did. We’re happy that it only took two months, but there was pressure from all sides to get to the table and that’s why we did at this time."
For its part, Vale said it was glad an agreement was reached.
“The past two months have been challenging for everyone,” said Dino Otranto, chief operating officer for Vale's North Atlantic Operations. “We are pleased that the company and the union were able to find common ground and a path forward. We look forward to welcoming everyone back.”
The union said hard work done on the picket lines, as well as community support, was exactly what was needed to get the deal done.
“We brought in the community members as partners,” said Nick Larochelle, USW Local 6500 president.
"We received tremendous support with donations to the strike fund, donations to the picket line. Support from local companies helped us get our message across to Vale and our conduct on the picket line and the belief in our strategic campaign absolutely made a huge difference to help the community support us this year."
Larochelle said social media also played a key role in the strike's success, allowing for greater communication.
Former Laurentian University labour professor John Peters said despite the fact that metal prices are going up and Vale’s revenues have skyrocketed, the company chose the hard route looking for concessions in the collective agreement.
“Mining certainly over the last year has been on the upswing and it looks like it's gonna go through another big bomb cycle," Peters said.
"So you’re leaving millions of dollars on the table, you know, every day that those mines and that refinery and mills are not working. So I think the idea of the (revenue) that are being lost was the big concern for Vale at the end of the day and they were quite willing to accept that they still didn’t get everything that they want, but they are still going to be making a lot of money for everybody.”
Many members will return to work next week, while others will be phased in over the next three weeks to allow those who have other employers to give notice before returning to Vale.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.