Vale has completed contract negotiations with 14 Brazilian labour unions representing 40,000 workers, with a two-year deal accepted by 87 per cent of the membership.
The move "speaks well to the confidence employees have in the future direction of the company," said Vale Inco's vice-president of corporate affairs, Cory McPhee, in a release.
This drew praise and scorn in equal measure from the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500, where roughly 3,000 workers continue to strike at Vale Inco's Sudbury operations.
John Fera, president of USW Local 6500, commended the Brazilian workers for resisting major concessions while securing annual seven per cent wage increases over the two-year deal.
He also painted Vale Inco's concession demands in its Canadian negotiations as "unwarranted" and "mean-spirited."
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