Brazilian miner Vale said in a securities filing on Tuesday it will suspend operations at its Sudbury, Canada nickel mine, after its proposal for a five-year contract was rejected by the United Steelworkers union.
United Steelworkers Local 6500, which represents 2,600 workers at the mine, said in a statement that 70% of those who voted were opposed to the Vale offer and wanted the union – whose bargaining committee had recommended the preliminary deal – to return to the bargaining table.
“What we have is a clear message from our membership that our bargaining team … has taken back to the company,” said Kevin Boyd, vice president at USW Local 6500, adding that talks are ongoing.
Sudbury produced 43,200 tonnes of nickel last year, representing a bit less than half of Vale’s overall Canadian output of the base metal.
Vale said in the filing that USW Local 6200, which represents employees at its separate Port Colborne refinery, were favorable to the proposed deal.
Vale said it continues to negotiate with the other local.
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer and Carolina Mandl; additional reporting by Jeff Lewis in Toronto; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
