N.L. labour minister supports striking steelworkers

Striking workers at the Inco plant in Voisey's Bay deserve higher wages, Newfoundland's labour minister said Mondayas he calledboth sides back to the bargaining table.

Paul Shelley said the 120 steelworkers should be paid the same as plant workers at other Inco plantssuch as the one inSudbury, Ont.

"We need to be treated fairly as a province and as workers in this province, and I'm sure that's something that we can discuss," he said.

Bob Carter, a spokesman for Voisey's Bay Nickel, confirmed Tuesday that talks have been scheduled.

"If there's a basis for moving forward ... we're more than willing to meet the minister's request," he said. "I think arrangements have been put in place for those discussions to happen next week."

No one from the union could be reached for comment.

The strikers are trying to maintain a picket lineusing small boats. So far, they've prevented a huge ore carrier from docking at the mine's port.

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.

There have been no negotiations since the workers walked off the job. The union wants wage parity with other Inco workers. The company says it is ready to negotiate based on the offer it made in July.

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.