Workers at Teck Resources Ltd.'s Highland Valley copper mine have voted 99.5% in favour of a strike, according to the union.
“We’re down to money now, and the big issues are wages, pensions and benefits,” said Richard Boyce, president of United Steelworkers Local 7619.
Boyce noted that the union has been in contract negotiations with Teck (TSX: TCK.A, TCK.B) since about mid-August; the workers’ contract expires September 30. The strike vote was taken September 25.
Asked how well negotiations have gone so far, Boyce said: “Things always go well – just like your home life – until you start talking about money.”
He said the union is planning to use the strike vote as “a motivational tool.”
Boyce said a mediator has been appointed and talks will resume, with the mediator, on September 29.
Boyce noted that Highland Valley is the largest open pit mine in Canada. His local has approximately 1,150 members.
This latest strike vote adds to a series of labour problems Teck has seen over the last year or so.
On January 30, workers at Teck’s Elkview mine in southeastern B.C. went on strike. The mine’s operations didn’t resume until April 8, after the union membership had ratified a new five-year agreement.
Last August, workers at Teck’s Coal Mountain mine in southeastern B.C. formed a picket line after eight months of collective bargaining fell through. (See “Teck fighting operational and labour fires in southeast B.C.”– issue 1086; August 17 -23.)
That strike was settled September 29, 2010.
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV