BY KEITH LACEY
With the price of nickel hovering near a 20-year high, the rank and file of Mine Mill Local 598/CAW are a
confident bunch heading into preliminary contract talks with Falconbridge Ltd.
The union is scheduled to begin talks with a management team from the nickel giant next Monday.
The current contract expires at midnight Feb. 1.
Local 598 president Rick Grylls and CAW vice-president Hemi Mitic say the union is determined to make significant progress during this round of negotiations.
?We?re looking for a good contract...we know where the market stands and we know this company is going to be making an awful lot of money from its Sudbury operations over the next several years,? said Grylls.
?The demand for nickel and price is expected to remain strong for several years to come. All we want is our fair share.?
Heading into contract talks three and six years ago, global market conditions weren?t nearly as promising and members of Local 598 were unable to keep up with gains in wages and benefits achieved in other Ontario industries, said Grylls.
With nickel prices well over $5.50 a pound (American) and no new major sources of nickel expected to come onto the world market for several years, the members know they?re in the best bargaining position they have enjoyed in almost two decades, said Grylls.
?In terms of real money, we?ve only received about an eight cent an hour raise on top of the cost of living over the course of the last contract,? he said. ?In terms of wages, as well as benefits and pensions, we?re not about to stand still. We want to move forward.?
Without discussing numbers, Grylls said the membership met twice last week and let the bargaining committee know wages will be a prime consideration during this round of bargaining.
?We know the production of the limited workforce we have remaining here in Sudbury is way up,? he said.
?The bottom line is, we want this company to make money, but we want the workers responsible for making this
money to be well compensated for their hard work.?
If the price of nickel remains as strong as it has been over the past year, the company will not be able to cry poor heading to the negotiating table, said Grylls.
?We?re not saying we don?t want the company to profit, but what we are demanding is everybody profits, including the members of this union,? he said.
?We?re good workers here and we want to be part of this company?s long-term plans here in Sudbury.?
This is the first contract since a bitter, seven-month strike that saw 1,300 men and women with Local 598 walk the picket lines between August of 2000 and Feb. 1 of 2001.
The strike cost the company ?$100 million in cash and eight months of good production? not to mention the bitter feelings that lingered for months after the strike was settled, said Grylls.
It?s the union?s position heading into bargaining to reach a deal that is fair for the union and company considering global market conditions, he said.
?We?re out to negotiate a contract...because we?re not afraid to do the hard work,? he said. ?It?s all a matter of sharing the wealth.
?We want a good contract because with trickle-down economics, it means our workers are getting paid more money and they will spend here and make this community an even better place to live.?
Mitic said he also expects a tough, but productive round of negotiations, but one that will produce a quality contract the membership will be proud to endorse.
?We will be seeking substantial increases in all areas of the collective agreement,? he said. ?We haven?t had any significant wage increase for this union in eight or nine years and that?s no longer acceptable with nickel around $6
a pound.?
Falconbridge has cut its Sudbury workforce ?to the bone? with only 1,100 members remaining. Those workers have seen job classifications reduced and bonus plans diminished, said Mitic.
Money talks in all areas of business and the membership want a big raise this time around, he said.
?The workers want a fair share of the big profits we know are going to be made over the next few years,? he said. ?Nickel is at its highest price since 1989 and one of the highest prices we?ve ever seen.
?When the price is down as it has been during our last two contract negotiations, our workers take the hit. The nickel price is really high and we want to share in that.?
Relationship between management and unionized workers has been strained since the strike in many areas, particularly at smelter operations, and negotiations will also deal with working conditions, said Mitic.
?There are certain issues that have to be resolved,? he said. ?The relationship between this company and union has traditionally been a good one, but the way some people in management have conducted themselves since the strike is unacceptable.
Falconbridge management won?t comment on contract negotiations, but a company spokesperson did say the company is hopeful a new collective agreement can be reached long before the contract expires two months from
now.
