A MESSAGE FROM USW LOCAL 6166

Greetings Brothers, Sisters, and the General Public,

I am writing this letter to inform you of the labour dispute taking place between Vale Inco and our Brothers and Sisters in both Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario.

USW Local 6166 members know the importance of this dispute and how it will directly affect our lives and our community in the future.  The intent of this letter is to establish an awareness in our community of the unjust treatment Vale Inco has shown towards our Brothers and Sisters in Ontario and most likely on August 1, 2009 – our Brothers and Sisters in Voisey’s Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Vale Inco’s Canadian operations are extremely profitable.  The Ontario operations alone collected $4.1 Billion from 2006 to 2008.  Vale Inco is persistent on increasing these profits at the expense of their workers.  Concessions in pensions, nickel bonus, cost of living allowance (COLA) and seniority rights are just some of the key issues in this labour dispute.  These concessions are an outright attack on the work force! Labour costs account for less than 1/10^th of Vale’s cost and they have already clawed back nickel bonus earnings in Thompson, without releasing a clear explanation to our membership on the floor of their accounting practices versus profitability, which has left our membership confused over whether or not they will ever obtain another nickel bonus payment.

“What impact does this labour dispute have on us in Northern Manitoba, when we have a binding contract until September 2011?”  The dark twisting path Vale Inco chose to seek, in the pursuit of concession gains in Ontario, puts our workers in a state of troubled unrest.  Make no mistake, we too may find ourselves in the very same position.  A labour dispute in any community places undue stress and strain on it as a whole and directly affects the shop keeper, banker, car salesman, and “You.”  We urge you to support us in our pursuit of equality for all Canadians. Thank you.

In Solidarity,

Murray Nychyporuk