A memo from the president of the Steelworkers local 5795 Ron Thomas posted on their Facebook page says contract negotiations with the Iron Ore Company of Canada have broken off, only one week into the talks. The memo says both sides have come to an impasse and the union will be contacting the government appointed conciliator for assistance. According to Thomas if that isn’t achieved they will have a full membership meeting to discuss their next steps.
Thomas explained in the memo there were two main reasons for the union to break away from the talks.
1. The company wants to get rid of the janitor occupation and contract out all janitorial work.
2. The company wants to change the language in layoff and recall, changing from seniority to qualifications which will be determined by the company. According to the memo this would mean IOC can layoff and recall whomever they want.
In the memo Thomas says he will be writing a Presidents letter in the next few days to explain more.
The Aurora is making efforts to contact both Thomas and IOC for a comment.
Local 5795 has approximately 1500 members. Their current contract, a six year agreement, expires at the end of next month. When speaking with the Aurora late last fall Thomas said the union’s demands were confidential and would not be released to the media.
The Aurora contacted Thomas soon after the Facebook post.
“I’m not discussing this with the media, yet,” was his only comment.
When contacted, Heather Bruce-Veitch, director of Communications and external relations for IOC told the Aurora they have no comment at this time.
The negotiations come at important time in the industry as markets have shown significant improvements recently. The price of ore is almost $80 a ton, up from just over $40 several years ago. Bloom Lake, just across the border, is hoping to be back in production in the next couple of months after being closed for several years. Wabush mines is preparing to reopen after being closed almost four years. Meanwhile IOC started work last year on their Wabush three project, a new pit that will substantially extend the life of the mine.
