Unionized workers at NyrstarB次元官网网址檚 Myra Falls mine walked off the job June 3 in an effort to move contract negotiations along.
B次元官网网址淏argaining just broke down,B次元官网网址� said Jim Dixon, UNIFOR national representative Jim Dixon. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e too far apart.B次元官网网址�
The issue from the unionB次元官网网址檚 point of view is to bring wages back to a level prior to previous contracts negotiated to help the company sell the mine. A closure agreement had been negotiated with the company when the mine was closed in 2015 and then a subsequent agreement was negotiated in 2017 to help the company sell the operation. Those contracts contained a lot of concessions to make the mine more appealing to a buyer.
B次元官网网址淎nd so during all that time, of course, there was no wage increases and in 2017 when we negotiated there was a lot of concessions given to try to make it more appealing to someone to buy it,B次元官网网址� Dixon said. B次元官网网址淭he company assured us they were going to sell it. Anyway, they didnB次元官网网址檛 end up selling it.B次元官网网址�
The company ended up opening the mine, instead, and it had just recently got back up to full production, Dixon said.
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B次元官网网址淪o the issues at the bargaining table are to start to address some of the concessions during the term of this agreement and start to bring the wages back, once you adjust for inflation, to where we were in 2014.B次元官网网址�
Dixon said that contract negotiations hadnB次元官网网址檛 reached an impasse, per se, it was just that the two sides were just too far apart.
UNIFOR local 3019 members have been without a contract since the last one expired in October, 2020. Negotiations for a new contract got underway just before that time with the previous owners and what ended up happening was the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to continue negotiations, so talks were slowed down. Then at the end of last year, new owners Trafigura took control of Nyrstar and essentially replaced the management that UNIFOR was negotiating with.
B次元官网网址淭hey asked to sort of step down talks until they could get into position to get the new management in place,B次元官网网址� Dixon said.
Consequently, negotiations didnB次元官网网址檛 really get back on track until April of this year.
Dixon said he could see the strike going either way, settling relatively quickly or going on for some time. He said the members, 312 of whom are on strike, are frustrated by the situation which he believes may be a holdover from the previous ownership.
B次元官网网址淏ut itB次元官网网址檚 really about getting a fair contract,B次元官网网址� Dixon said.
The company has spent a lot of money to acquire the mine and get it up and running, he said, so theyB次元官网网址檝e lost a lot of money over the past few years but mineral prices are really high and productivity is actually really high.
B次元官网网址淪o, I think thereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of money to be made and so our members just want to start recouping some of the concessions that they made to try and get the mine back to this position,B次元官网网址� Dixon said. B次元官网网址淭rafigura is a huge company. They are a multinational company. They have deep pockets so weB次元官网网址檙e hoping they come to their senses and realize that theyB次元官网网址檙e better to have a fair contract with us and having us mine the ore than it is to have us sitting on a picket line.B次元官网网址�
editor@campbellrivermirror.com
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