Goose Bay mayor calls for end to Voisey's strike
The mayor of Labrador's largest town said his council will try to revive talks to end a strike at the Voisey's Bay nickel mine.
The United Steelworkers union — representing 117 miners and heavy equipment operators — has been on strike at the mine on the northern Labrador coast since late July.
Leo Abbass, mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, said the strike is affecting the economy of his community, which supplies the mine and is home to many of the workers.
"We'll try to make contact with both sides and our message will be, 'Start talking, see if you can get a resolution as quickly as possible to this,' " Abbass told about 30 striking workers Wednesday outside the town hall.
There have been no negotiations since the strike started six weeks ago.
Parent company Inco said it is ready to negotiate based on its last financial offer, which was made in July.
However, the Steelworkers union said it will not head back to the bargaining table until Inco is prepared to talk about a deal that would see miners earn the same remuneration as Inco workers in Sudbury, Ont.
"We're only asking for wage parity, benefits parity, pension parity," said striker Gerald Saunders.
'Money is no issue here'
Striker Morgan Michelin said he does not expect negotiations to resume soon. He said Inco's ability to pay a $125-million US penalty this week in the wake of a failed merger with U.S. giant Phelps Dodge shows the company is not hurting financially.
"They could settle tomorrow, they could settle this afternoon— money is no issue here," he said.
"[The penalty] thrown away— that's enough money to operate Voisey's Bay for 10 years."
Deputy Mayor Stan Oliver said the town is missing the 117 striking miners' salaries.
"They're taking a hit. Their disposable incomes are way down," Oliver said.
Unionized workers at Inco's smelters in Sudbury and Thompson, Man., have said they will refuse to process any stores of concentrate from Labrador as long as the strike lasts.
Voisey's Bay Nickel shipped its first concentrate from the mine last November.