The head of Essar Steel Algoma's largest union is scolding Sault Ste. Marie Mayor John Rowswell for publicly weighing into the fray over a three-month strike at Vale Inco's nickel operation in Sudbury.
Mike Da Prat, president of United Steelworkers Local 2251, said he's “appalled” by Rowswell's comments in an open letter to Vale Inco and Steelworkers Local 6500 concerning the labour dispute.
“It is not the union that is at fault, yet Mayor Rowswell in true management fashion, chooses to pontificate, and blame both sides equally,” said Da Prat in a Nov. 3 letter.
In his Oct. 27 letter, Rowswell said the larger spinoffs of the strike is undermining Northern Ontario's economy. With no negotiations on the horizon, he called the lack of progress “unacceptable” and urged both sides to get back to the bargaining table.
More than 3,000 miners and mill workers in Sudbury, Port Colborne and Voisey's Bay, NL have been on strike since July. It's the first strike since Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce bought Inco in 2006 for $19 billion.
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