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Vale, Steel to head back to table with facilitator – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – July 13, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury members have been on strike since June 1; two sides looking for compromise

With a strike by Vale workers now entering its seventh week, the company and union have agreed to bring in an outside party to help them find common ground.

“Over the past few days Vale and the United Steelworkers Local 6500 bargaining committees have been exploring a path forward to the resumption of negotiations,” said Danica Pagnutti, corporate affairs specialist with Vale, in a message to The Star.

“On that front, we will be returning to the negotiation table on July 19 and utilizing a third-party facilitator that was jointly selected by Vale and the USW to assist in these conversations.”

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It’s been 50 years since NASA’s Apollo 16 astronauts walked on Sudbury – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Star – July 9, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

They were here to train for their moon mission

This summer marks 50 years since NASA dispatched the Apollo 16 astronauts to Sudbury for field training ahead of their trip to the moon. Commander John Young and pilot Charles Duke, whose spacecraft would launch from Cape Canaveral less than a year later on April 16, 1972, teamed up with experts from Inco to study Sudbury’s impact crater and its unique geological structures.

NASA hoped that the field training, which took place from July 7 to 9, 1971, would prepare the astronauts for lunar surface experiments. It turns out, the excursion didn’t prepare them as much as they’d hoped.

“We were very interested, at the time, in trying to work up the geology of the moon. The great debate in the literature prior to our first moon landing was how much of the moon was formed by volcanic activity and how much of it was formed by impact structures,” said Michael Dence.

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Sudbury Vale Strike impacting battery market – by Staff (Sudbury Star – July 2, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Analyst senses labour dispute could extend for months

A strike at Vale’s Sudbury operations is taxing a nickel market that’s key to powering electric vehicles. The job action by USW Local 6500 is now entering its second month, with no new contract talks planned.

Bloomberg News notes that Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries.

Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative.

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Strike at Vale’s Sudbury Operation Strains Battery Nickel Supply – by Mariana Durao and Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – June 29, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A strike at Vale SA’s Sudbury operations in Canada is taxing a nickel market that’s key to powering electric vehicles.

Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries. Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative.

That shift is increasing competition for briquette, pushing up North American premiums, or extra charges consumers pay on top of nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange, as stockpiles of the metal dwindle. Inventories of briquette, the main form of nickel stored at LME warehouses, have fallen 9% since a peak in April and are now at the lowest in more than a year.

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With nickel reserves running out, Sudbury is an expensive place for Vale to do business – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 23, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Vale COO implores striking Steelworkers to help get costs under control, find solutions to keep mining in the Sudbury basin

Vale’s Dino Otranto claims it can’t be business as usual, not when the Sudbury base metal mining operations he oversees “occupy the highest cost position of any mines on the planet.”

With operations at a standstill heading into the fourth week of a strike by Steelworkers Local 6500, Vale’s chief operating officer for its North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries took to the web on June 17 for a virtual town hall meeting, spelling out the shape the business in the Sudbury basin and the “tough conversations” that need to take place.

The web event was attended by 956 registered attendees for the sessions. Management only addressed a portion of the 115 questions sent in. “The past is not the recipe to sustain this, moving forward,” Otranto said. “And there is no consultant that’s going to come in and give us the silver bullet.

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Vale, Local 6500 ‘remain apart on important issues’ – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – June 16, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Clawbacks to benefits and pensions are the main sticking points for Local 6500, union officials said Tuesday — a day after members resoundingly shot down a new offer from Vale.

“Times are good right now in Sudbury — in fact they’re very good,” said Myles Sullivan, assistant to USW District 6 director Marty Warren, during a press conference.

“Now is not a time to be forcing us out on strike, demanding concessions. So yeah, we’re disappointed and frustrated, but ready to roll up our sleeves and get back to the bargaining table. It takes two sides to do that and we’re ready.”

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Sudbury Local 6500 rejects latest offer from Vale – by Staff (Sudbury Star – June 15, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

A new contract offer from Vale to its striking workers was rejected by a strong margin Monday. Eighty-four per cent of USW Local 6500 members participated in a vote Monday evening, with 87 per cent opposing the revised deal.

The union’s own bargaining team had called the offer “concessionary” and did not recommend it to members. In a release, Vale expressed disappointment that the union had taken this stance.

“The company was in active negotiations with Local 6500 when it was informed of this position,” the miner said. “Vale’s second offer addresses issues of concern that we heard from our employees, including wages, pensions and post-retiree benefits for new hires.”

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Vale’s Otranto says it’s ‘disappointing’ bargaining committee recommends rejecting second offer – by Staff (Sudbury.com – June 14, 2021)

https://www.sudbury.com/

The head of Vale’s North Atlantic Operations said today he’s disappointed the Steelworkers Local 6500 bargaining committee is unanimously recommending striking members reject a second offer from the company.

The union’s bargaining committee announced today it is recommending to its 2,500 members that the new offer be rejected, as it includes “similar take-aways with minimal improvements” over the initial offer.

On June 1, Local 6500 overwhelmingly rejected an initial contract offer, with 70 per cent of members voting against the offer on a voter turnout of 87 per cent.

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Enviro programs should be added, not cut – by David Farrow (Sudbury Star – June 10, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

David Farrow is the Ontario Liberal Party candidate for Sudbury in next year’s provincial election.

During my first trip to Sudbury in 1985, I remember the area looking barren with little to no vegetation. It was a shock to someone who was a first-time visitor to the city.

Thankfully, local leaders have taken steps since then to restore the landscape and beautify our community, producing world-class results, in no small part due to the excellent environmental research and teaching at Laurentian University. It made the business hub of Northern Ontario a better place to live.

Shockingly, Laurentian’s School of the Environment and environmental programming, so important to the fabric of our city, have been gutted by the recent Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings, alongside other vital areas of study. This is a mistake, one that will have consequences in the years to come.

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Sudbury’s iconic Miners Lunchbox is back and ready to go to work – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – June 4, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Miners Lunchbox is such an iconic product. It is part of the collective memory of Sudbury. The first pail was prototyped in 1957 as a one-off, but production began shortly because of its practicality and demand.

Soon, everyone going underground, to the smelter, or any worksite was carrying one. The heritage and tradition continue. Demand is global. “We are going to restart in our community, then Canada,” shares the new manufacturers of the lunchbox Doug Patrick, Steve Patrick, and Scott Sprack.

They are building inventory for the inevitable uptick in demand. It is almost indestructible and yes, even recyclable. Aluminum is lightweight and rust-proof, perfect for the underground’s damp conditions. Everyone knows the product. It was invented by Leo May.

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Vale, Steel remain in talks as workers picket – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – June 2, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale workers took to the picket lines Tuesday for the first time in a dozen years after rejecting a tentative deal reached by their union and the company.

“Our membership spoke and they are bringing the message back that concessions are not acceptable,” said Kevin Boyd, vice-president with USW 6500. “And very clearly, a lot of it is in benefits.”

Among the more unpopular changes outlined in the new five-year contract are the removal of retiree health benefits for any new hire and the elimination of over-the-counter drug coverage (except for life-sustaining medication).

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Vale workers in Sudbury reject contract offer and go on strike – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – June 1, 2021)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Picketlines are up at Vale’s mines, mill and smelter in Sudbury as the union representing 2,400 workers have voted down a tentative agreement with the mining giant.

United Steelworkers Local 6500 says in a statement on its website that 87 per cent of members cast ballots in a ratification vote Monday night and 70 per cent rejected the deal the union bargaining committee was recommending.

“Thank you for your overwhelming support to return us to the bargaining table,” reads the statement. “We are newly energized with this result and are looking forward to bringing your message to the company to let them know our work is not complete.”

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Clock ticking for Steel, Vale negotiators – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – May 28, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Steelworkers local representing Vale workers is hopeful a strong, multi-year deal can be obtained for its members as negotiations on a new contract continue this week.

“We’re looking for something to compensate us for the work we’ve done over the last year, which has created record profits in some areas,” said a union official who asked not to be named. “We’re expecting to be treated with the care and understanding they say they offer.”

The union agreed last spring to an unusual one-year contract, effective June 1, due to the economic uncertainties brought on by COVID-19.

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Steelworkers seek gains in new contract – by Staff (Sudbury Star – May 25, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

This will be a critical week as negotiators for Steelworkers Local 6500 and Vale try to work out a new contract by May 31. That’s when the current labour contract expires.

USW Local 6500 represents more than 2,500 production and maintenance workers in mining, milling, smelting and refining at Vale’s Sudbury operations.

Vale, with almost 4,000 workers, is Sudbury’s largest employer. In Sudbury, it operates five mines, a mill, a smelter and a refinery from one of the largest integrated mining complexes in the world. Sudbury products include nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum group metals, gold and silver.

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Accent: Living with Lake remains a symbol of hope for Sudbury – by Elizabeth Bamberger (Sudbury Star – May 15, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Accent: Environmental excellence on the shore of Lake Ramsey must be preserved during Laurentian University’s restructuring process

There are landmarks in our city that show how the imagination and vision of small groups of individuals can take root and grow. Science North is a prominent example.

Another is Canada’s first school of architecture in 45 years that opened its doors to Laurentian students in 2013, seeding excitement, renewal and hope in the downtown core.

The iconic Vale Living With Lakes Centre on the shores of Lake Ramsey is a third, and its story needs to be told, especially in this turbulent time.

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