Another long strike looms at Voisey’s Bay if labour laws aren’t changed: union

<p>ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – A union leader says another long strike is inevitable at the Voisey’s Bay nickel mine in Labrador as unresolved grievances pile up amid “horrible” working conditions.</p> <p>Boyd Bussey of the United Steelworkers, who represents employees at the remote site owned by Brazil mining giant Vale, is urging the province to change labour laws or face another drawn-out dispute.</p> <p>A bitter 18-month strike ended with ratification of a five-year contract Jan. 31.</p> <p>Since then, the climate at the isolated mine a 15-minute flight from Nain has spiralled downward, Bussey said Thursday in an interview.</p> <p>”We’re filing an average of four grievances per day ever since they’ve been back to work. The company is refusing to deal with them. They’re forcing the union to move them all on to arbitration.</p> <p>”They hired two of the scab workers as supervisors, and that’s flying in the face of people who have to cohabit on a remote work site. You can understand that’s not a very nice situation for those returning workers.”</p> <p>Bussey also said Vale flouted a signed return-to-work agreement and disciplined three workers for unproven picket-line mischief.</p> <p>”It’s a horrible situation.”</p> <p>Asked if company tactics amount to union busting, Bussey said: “Yes, at its finest. I think they’re after the union treasury in forcing all these grievances into arbitration because … (it’s) a very costly process.”</p> <p>Vale spokesman Bob Carter declined to comment on the union allegations.</p> <p>They come a day after the report of an industrial inquiry into the long strike recommended provincial labour law changes to avert or help settle such disputes in future.</p> <p>The commission led by chairman John Roil was set up by former premier Danny Williams.</p> <p>It recommends legal updates to ensure multinational companies respond to Canadian labour values and to foster good-faith bargaining by employers and unions.</p> <p>It also calls for changes to provincial labour law to provide a process that could impose contracts in some cases. An employer or the union would have to apply for that process and convince the Labour Relations Board that bargaining was in good faith.</p> <p>The applicant would also have to show that all conditions that preceded the strike or lockout were met and that an imposed contract is in the public’s interest.</p> <p>If the board is satisfied, the employer and union would have another 30 days to reach a deal before a third party would reach it for them.</p> <p>Bussey said he supports all the recommendations and that they will be an issue for the union in the provincial election set for Oct. 11.</p> <p>”This company still wants to confront rather than get along,” he said.</p> <p>Government minister Darin King, responsible for human resources, labour and employment, said he was still reviewing the inquiry report. He said he won’t make any decisions until getting input from his officials, workers and employers, along with other public feedback.</p> <p>”I guess all of us recognize that the strike at Voisey’s Bay was very unique and not something we’ve been used to in our province. We’re talking about a multinational corporation,” he told reporters outside the legislature.</p> <p>King said the use of replacement workers prolonged the dispute. But he said the question of whether the province should legislate against so-called scab labour is for another day.</p> <p>In a brief statement, Vale said the commission’s recommendations “will have to be carefully considered by all parties to determine whether they will result in a progressive and balanced improvement in the labour relations regime in Newfoundland and Labrador.”</p> <p>An advocacy group for employers in the province spoke out Thursday against the commission’s recommendation for what it called “radical” legal changes to allow the forced settlement of collective agreements.</p> <p>The NL Employers’ Council said any such move “would damage labour relations and business investment climates in this province.”</p> <p>Vale disputed the commission’s call for both the company and Steelworkers to go beyond “strict legal requirements” when it comes to honouring benefit agreements with the Innu and Inuit people of Labrador.</p> <p>Both aboriginal groups feel “that the Voisey’s Bay project has fallen short of their expectations for their communities,” says the report.</p> <p>In its statement, Vale said the Innu and Inuit have seen “significant benefits” from the mining operation.</p> <p>Bussey said at least half of about 200 workers at Voisey’s Bay are aboriginal.</p> <p>”They’re absolutely fantastic workers. They’re well skilled,” and yet they are repeatedly passed over for promotions in violation of contract agreements, Bussey alleged.</p> <p>”Workers in Voisey’s Bay are not satisfied,” he said. “They’re not happy with how the company’s treating them today.</p> <p>”And if it doesn’t change …we’re going to be right back at square one in less than five years’ time.”</p>