SUDBURY, Ont. - Vale said Friday it plans to increase nickel production at its strike-bound operations in Sudbury, Ont., after workers voted to reject the company's latest contract offer.
More than 3,000 production and maintenance workers represented by the United Steelworkers have been on strike for close to eight months.
However the company has trained non-striking workers from another union local including office, clerical and technical workers to help restart some of its Sudbury-area operations.
The company said one furnace at its Copper Cliff smelter has been operating at full capacity, drawing down inventories to produce a nickel oxide matte for the company's refinery in Wales.
"We are currently ramping up mine production in Sudbury to secure an uninterrupted supply of feed for the furnace and expect to be in position to maintain full, uninterrupted production by the end of the second quarter," Vale said.
"The Clydach Refinery, meanwhile, is currently operating at a rate of 2.5 million pounds of nickel per month and is expected to be back at full capacity by April, producing 7.9 million pounds of nickel per month."
Vale's Voisey's Bay site in Newfoundland and Labrador where about 200 workers are on strike in a separate dispute is operating on a two-week on, two-week off basis, producing 3.5 million pounds of nickel per month and 2.8 million pounds of copper per month.
Workers in Sudbury voted 88.7 per cent to reject the company's latest contract offer, which was presented to the union bargaining committee during exploratory talks with a mediator.
Meanwhile, their colleagues at the nickel miner's operation in Port Colborne, Ont., voted 98 per cent to reject the company's latest offer.
No new talks are planned to resolve the strike, which involves about 3,000 workers in Sudbury and another 130 in Port Colborne.
They've been on strike over pensions, nickel bonuses and seniority transfer rights since July 13.
It is the first major strike at Vale's Canadian operations since Brazil-based Companhia Vale do Rio Doce bought the former Inco Ltd. for $19 billion in October 2006. Previous work stoppages at Inco have been lengthy, including a nine-month strike in 1978 and a three-month strike in 2003.
Vale's Canadian operations include six nickel mines, a mill, a smelter and a refinery in Sudbury; a refinery in Port Colborne, Ont.; a nickel-cobalt-copper mine in Voisey's Bay; and three nickel mines, a mill, a smelter and a refinery in Thompson, Man. The strike affects all of the company's operations except those in Thompson.
Vale has more than 100,000 employees around the world and is a global leader in the production of iron ore pellets, aluminum, coal, nickel, copper, steel and other resources.
It was set up by the Brazilian government in 1942 but is now privately run and trades on the Brazilian and New York stock exchanges.
