Manitoba based Vale Inco have ratified a three year contract with the United Steelworkers with a three year deal including cost of living allowance that will be 13.7 per cent for the 1,300 workers at the complex.
The nickel bonus remains unchanged at $2.25 kick in, a dime and then penny for penny.
A $5,000 signing bonus was given for each worker and increases in base wages of three per cent now, 2.5 per cent a year and two per cent in Sept. 2010. The ratification vote was 65.5 per cent in favour.
“This is the best contact we've seen in Thompson yet,” Les Ellsworth chief union negotiator and local president says.
It was his sixth time to the table and usually he says there are numerous times the parties leave to rethink their position. This time, no one walk away.
This past round of negotiations started May 1st. Management from Vale Inco was local allowing for a made in Manitoba deal.
“If this is what this company is about then we are off to a great start,” Ellsworth says.
The last time there was a dispute was in 1999 and it lasted for three and a half months.
Since then, relationships have been fortified on both sides providing a stronger basis for collaboration, he says.
Ellsworth says he will be in Sudbury alongside John Fera as Vale Inco negotiations begin in this coming May.
“I will work close with John Fera and be in the front row to help get a good contact.”
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