Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A. (Vale) has announced that on July 13 the unionized maintenance and production employees at its Canadian nickel mining and processing division Vale Inco in Sudbury and Port Colborne, province of Ontario, went on strike after rejecting the company's settlement offer for a new three-year collective bargaining agreement.
According to the reports, the labor negotiations between Vale and its Sudbury union collapsed since the parties failed to reach agreement on bonuses, pensions and other issues. "Our proposal aims to provide the right incentives for labor productivity growth and to enhance the foundations of our long-term competitiveness and capacity to continue to generate value," Vale stated.
The strike affects 3,073 employees at Vale's integrated mining, milling, smelting and refining operations in Sudbury, and 116 employees at its Port Colborne refinery.
The strike will not have an immediate effect on Vale's nickel output, as, due to low nickel prices, the Sudbury and Port Colborne operations began an eight-week shutdown on June 1, 2009, and were scheduled to resume operations on July 27, 2009.
In 2008, finished nickel production at the Sudbury operations reached 85,300 metric tons, i.e. 31 percent of Vale's total nickel output. Vale's Port Colborne facility produces platinum group metals, gold and silver intermediate products.