Vale tentative agreement includes retirement benefits for new hires
The union representing more than 2,400 striking workers at Vale has released some details of a tentative agreement members will be reviewing Tuesday.
Negotiators for Steelworkers Local 6500 say they are unanimously recommending members accept the five-year agreement. The contract includes retirement benefits for new hires, a key sticking point in the labour dispute.
"After two weeks of challenging negotiations, your bargaining committee believes we have achieved this objective," said a post on the union's website.
"This tentative agreement includes significant monetary improvements for existing members and preserves retiree health benefits for all future hires."
It also includes wage increases of 1.5 per cent in the first and last year of the deal, with one per cent increases in years 2-4. Members would also receive a $2,500 "recognition payment" to recognize members' "efforts last year during the pandemic and the acceptance of a status quo contract."
A signing bonus of $3,500 would be paid 30 days after the agreement is ratified.
Workers rejected the last contract offer from the company at the end of May, which was also recommended by the bargaining committee.
Workers were praised for taking a "principled" stand to protect the retirement benefits for future employees, and the bargaining committee said it "energized" them to strike a better agreement.
"Your bargaining committee is positive we could not have reached this settlement without your incredible support and the principled stand you took throughout this difficult process," the union said Tuesday.
"We believe this tentative agreement is worthy of your USW Local 6500 solidarity and values and we are unanimously recommending ratification."
The union is holding information sessions Tuesday on the new contract offer. Three meetings are scheduled – at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. All meetings will be held on Zoom, as well as at Steelworkers Hall.
Members who attend the meetings in person are being reminded masks are mandatory, and a maximum of 260 people can be in the hall, because of COVID-19 restrictions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
College students, inmates and a nun: A unique book club meets at one of America's largest jails
An unconventional book club inside one of America's largest jails brings college students and inmates together to tackle books that resonate with the mostly Black and Latino group members.