The Voisey’s Bay mine will continue to operate in care and maintenance mode for up to the next three months.
Vale, the company that operates the mine, announced on April 8 it would extend its four-week stoppage as it monitors progress and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kristie Cochrane, manager of Corporate Affairs and Communications for Vale’s Newfoundland and Labrador Operations and Projects, told SaltWire Network the site would have less than 200 employees for the extended care and maintenance period, including cleaning and catering support staff. There are normally about 800 workers on the site.
When Vale moved into maintenance mode on March 16, it also ceased charter flights in and out of the nearby Inuit and Innu communities. Cochrane said this was to help protect the populations.
“At the rapid pace that the Coronavirus was and continues to spread around the world, we felt it was our responsibility to minimize the potential that it could end up on our doorstep in Northern Labrador, where we have a deep understanding of the realities of the health-care system and the social determinants of health in Nunatsiavut and Innu communities,” Cochrane said in an email.
More than 400 of the workforce at Voisey’s Bay is Indigenous, she said, and they want to ensure Voisey’s Bay doesn’t act as a catalyst to inadvertently introduce the virus in these remote and vulnerable communities.
During the care and maintenance mode, she said, no employees will commute in and out of Nunatsiavut and Innu communities.
Labrador MP Yvonne Jones told SaltWire Network it has impressed her how Vale has handled COVID-19 concerns so far and it's being a good corporate citizen.
“They have to make sure the mines don’t flood so they have people there to look after that. That’s an essential service, and that’s all they’re doing,” she said. “They’re doing all the proper things, everything they said they were doing they’ve done; I haven’t heard a complaint about it at all. They’ve gone way above.”
Employees will continue to be paid: Vale
The company also announced workers at the nickel mine will continue to be paid, at reduced rates, during the downtime. According to a memo sent to all employees on April 8, starting April 16, all impacted Vale employees unable to work from home will receive 90 per cent of their base wages for the first four weeks.
If the care and maintenance mode continues for months two and three, employees will receive 80 per cent and 70 per cent of base wages, respectively, with benefit coverage continuing.
Vale said the pay structure is available because of the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program that was introduced by the federal government and topped up by the company.
“This approach offers both the comfort and security of continued wages for employees during this period of uncertainty and protection and preservation of jobs when operations resume,” the memo read.
