UPDATED July 27 at 3:16 p.m.
Steelworkers Local 6500 president John Fera said he feels terrible for 18 of his members who have been pinpointed by Vale for layoffs.
“It's just cruel to have to go through a year-long strike only to be laid off at the end,” he said.
The union told its members during contract ratification meetings earlier this month that 113 positions were being eliminated by Vale, but that they hoped to offset any layoffs through attrition.
Vale spokesperson Steve Ball said Vale actually needs to eliminate more positions than that.
More than 150 workers have already indicated that they are quitting or taking retirement packages, but it wasn't enough.
“First of all, the 113 number is a number that was shared with the 6500 bargaining committee, and it was indicated to them at that time that the number was far from final,” Ball said.
“They chose to disclose it publicly, so it's become a public number. But the number of positions we needed to eliminate was actually larger than 113.”
Fera said Vale never presented the 113 layoffs as a preliminary number during negotiations.
“Whomever is saying that is not telling you the truth,” he said. “That was the number.”
He said Local 6500 vice-president Rick Bertrand and Steelworkers international representative Myles Sullivan will meet with Vale's human resources manager tomorrow (July 28) to discuss the issue.
“This company has not been up front with us, and has not been truthful on a lot of different issues, and now we're seeing it again with the number of people that are being laid off,” Fera said.
When asked if the union plans to bring the matter to the Ontario Labour Relations Board, Fera said “that will be part of our discussions.”
Fera said the affected workers may be able to work at Vale's operations in Port Colborne, Ont. or Thompson, Man., but he hopes to be able to keep the jobs in Sudbury.
Local 6500 members were given until July 22 to tell the company that they intended to return to work after the nearly year-long strike, or they were considered to have voluntarily resigned. Those taking retirement packages have been given until Aug. 1 to do so.
Ball said the company began notifying the workers, who are represented by Steelworkers Local 6500, of the layoffs last night (July 26).
“Most people have been reached,” he said. “I understand that there's still some people that have to be reached at this point.”
The layoffs were based on seniority and on the “needs of the business,” Ball said. He said he's not sure which of the company's plants are affected by the layoffs, but said it's likely more than one plant.
Ball said it's “unfortunate” that layoffs have to occur, but that “tough decisions” had to be made.
When asked why Vale doesn't need the same number of people working in Sudbury as it did before the strike, Ball said the company's goal going into contract negotiations with Local 6500 last year was to make its operations in the city more efficient.
