The picketers were gone from the road to Vale's Copper Cliff Smelter in Sudbury less than an hour after results of a July 8 contract ratification vote were announced by United Steelworkers Local 6500 leaders.
Lyle Young, head of elections for the union, told reporters after polling took place that 75.5 per cent voted in favour of the deal, with 83.7 per cent of members turning out to cast a ballot.
About two dozen union members turned out to hear the results, and cheered when Local 6500 president John Fera announced that the nearly year-long strike is over.
The results of the vote among Vale workers in Port Colborne, Ont. are also in, with 74 per cent voting in favour of the deal.
“I'm glad our people are going back to work,” Fera said.
“As I said when I spoke to our members, we had hoped to bring our people back a better contract, but our members decided that this contract was going to be OK going forward.”
The contract includes a move from the defined benefit pension plan to a defined contribution pension plan for new hires, a $3.75-a-pound nickel price trigger for the nickel bonus, which is up from $2.50-a-pound nickel price trigger, and a nickel bonus cap of 25 per cent of a worker's pay.
“A year ago, the concessions were huge,” Fera said.
“If we compare what happened this weekend to where we were a year ago, the difference is huge. When they talked to us about a DC (defined contribution) plan a year ago, it had no health benefits, no safety benefits, and you would get no contributions if you were on compensation.”
The issue of the nine workers fired by Vale during the labour dispute for alleged actions on the picket lines will continue to be heard by the Ontario Labour Relations Board on July 12-13.
All other workers are scheduled to return to work within six weeks, according to a return-to-work protocol hammered out between the union and company. Some of the workers could be going back to work as soon as this week, Fera said.
Fera said the fact that the nine fired workers' cases will be heard by the labour board is a “huge victory for not only Local 6500, but for working people in this province.”
“Working people in Ontario, if they got fired while on strike, had no way of defending themselves before this case goes tomorrow,” he said.
“Good for Local 6500. Good for our members for fighting this fight. Let me tell you, this is hopefully going to bring new legislation to this province.”
As far as the replacement workers hired by Vale during the strike, Fera said “they better be gone when we get there.” He said the union would be having a “discussion” with Local 6500 members who have crossed the picket line during the strike.
Fera said much like the eight-and-a-half-month strike of 1978-79, the almost year-long strike of 2009-10 has developed a new generation of union activists.
John Pollesel, Vale's general manager of Ontario operations, said in a July 8 press release that the company is very pleased that production and maintenance employees have ratified the new collective agreements, and looks forward to their return to work and a resumption of normal operations.
“It’s been a long, hard year for everyone involved, and it’s now time to come together and focus on building the strong and sustainable operations that Sudbury and Port Colborne require.”
Pollesel also expressed his appreciation for the assistance of mediator Kevin Burkett, Ministry of Labour Conciliation and Mediation director Reg Pearson and Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, who all helped the two sides come to a resolution.
Article by Northern Life reporter Heidi Ulrichsen, heidi@northernlife.ca.
