Mar 06, 2010- 1:36 PM
UPDATED March 6 at 2:34 p.m.:
As exploratory talks continue between Steelworkers Local 6500 and Vale Inco negotiators, union members are taking part in protest action.The two sides have been meeting with the help of a provincial mediator in Toronto since last weekend to see if there was enough common ground to return to the bargaining table. They have imposed a media blackout on the talks.
Local 6500 has been on strike against Vale Inco since July 13.
When contacted by Northern Life, Vale Inco spokesperson Steve Ball said in an e-mail the “blackout is still in effect. There has been no news anything has changed so I guess no news is good news. That's all I can say.”
Local 6500 president John Fera did not answer his cell phone.
Meanwhile, a group of about 100 union members have gathered in Toronto to protest at the Toronto Convention Centre this afternoon (March 6). A group of Steelworkers from the Toronto area was also due to protest with them.
Gary Bass, one of the Steelworkers at the event, spoke to Northern Life by cell phone.
He said they are protesting at the convention centre because Vale Inco is the co-sponsor and a presenter at a conference taking place there.
Bass said the conference is about how mining companies can build positive relationships with community stakeholders, and how to resolve conflicts.
“And yet, up in Copper Cliff, they're bringing in replacement workers, and the strike has been ongoing since July 13 of last year.”
Bass said he's aware that exploratory talks are currently taking place between his union and Vale Inco in Toronto.
“That's why, originally, we weren't sure we were going to be doing this. I don't know how the talks are going. We're here, exercising our democratic right to protest peacefully, and just to let them know 'We're here, we're concerned, we're community stakeholders, just like anybody else, and we feel what is going on is wrong.”
Local 6500 members also protested outside the FedNor office in downtown Sudbury March 5, according to media reports. Industry Minister Tony Clement was in the office at the time.
