The impact of the strike involving more than 3,000 members of Steelworkers Local 6500 is “profound and serious” for both those directly involved and the Sudbury community at large, according to a Laurentian University economics professor.

David Leadbeater said while it is true that the mining industry has changed so that it employs a much smaller percentage of the working population, Sudbury is still largely a mining community.

“The vast majority of the investment and the vast majority of the GDP depends on the mining industry,” he said.

Leadbeater, along with fellow Laurentian economics professor David Robinson, and City of Greater Sudbury business development officer Paul Reid, participated in a panel discussion about the impact of the Vale Inco strike at the university Nov. 25.

Local 6500 members, who usually make between $20 and $30 an hour, are now bringing in $200 a week in strike pay, which amounts to less than the minimum wage, he said.

“This is a huge hit to those families,” Leadbeater said.

Vale Inco is attempting to “fundamentally weaken the union, and to break it if necessary,” he said.

“Why do they want to break the union? Well, obviously it's to gain an upper hand, to set conditions, to make more profits, to take more out of this city and give back less,” Leadbeater said.

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