After several meetings this week, Vale and Steelworkers Local 6500 came to an agreement Feb. 1 to conduct a joint investigation into Stephen Perry's death.

The miner was killed at Coleman Mine Jan. 29 after rock fell from the face of a drift where he was loading explosives.

The company and the union normally conduct joint investigations into workplace accidents.

However, after two miners were killed in an accident at Vale's Stobie Mine last year, the two parties were unable to agree as to how the investigation should be conducted, and instead conducted separate investigations.

“I'm pleased,” Steelworkers Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand said. “I think it's a step in the right direction ... We'll see what happens from here. I'm sure things will go smoothly.”

Bertrand said the company has agreed to share all of the documentation related to the investigation with the union, something which was lacking in the Stobie Mine accident investigation.

“We'll be able to lead the investigation together,” he said. “That was agreed upon by both parties.”

Vale spokesperson Angie Robson could not immediately be reached for comment on the matter, but did confirm in an e-mail sent Feb. 1 that the two parties would be conducting a joint investigation.

Robson also said in her e-mail that the temporary suspension of production at the company's Sudbury mines is continuing “so that we can stay focused squarely on safety, not on production.”

“Our mine managers met earlier this week to identify immediate actions to address safety in our mines, and how we will engage employees in this process,” she said, in the e-mail.

“Today, our worker health and safety representatives returned to our mines to work together with our managers and superintendents plans to address safety and manage risk on our workplace.

“These meetings are happening not only in our mines, but across all of our surface plants and departments in Sudbury. We are taking time to regroup and ensure that hazards across all of our areas are managed in an effective and timely way.”

The scene of the accident at Coleman Mine remains “frozen” as the Ministry of Labour conducts its investigation, Robson said.

Vale and Local 6500 will start a collection at all of the company's mines and plants next week for Perry's 19-year-old daughter, Brittany Boyd-Perry, Bertrand said.

He said raising funds for the fallen miner's daughter is the “right thing to do.”

“It doesn't help bring her father back, but any little thing we can do, we're going to do it for her,” he said.

Members of the public who wish to donate to Perry's daughter are asked to phone Nick Larochelle at the union hall at 705-675-3381, ext. 250.

Posted by Arron Pickard