We are the United Steelworkers, North America’s largest industrial union. We’re 1.2 million members and retirees strong in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. We proudly represent men and women who work in nearly every industry there is.
Please visit www.usw6500.isivote.com or call 1-888-357-7482 to place your vote on the current contract offer. You will need your Personal Identification Number. Please support your Bargaining Committee and reject this offer.
Please visit www.usw6500.isivote.com or call 1-888-357-7482 to place your vote on the current contract offer. You will need your Personal Identification Number. Please support your Bargaining Committee and reject this offer.
Please visit www.usw6500.isivote.com or call 1-888-357-7482 to place your vote on the current contract offer. You will need your Personal Identification Number. Please support your Bargaining Committee and reject this offer.
Please visit www.usw6500.isivote.com or call 1-888-357-7482 to place your vote on the current contract offer. You will need your Personal Identification Number. Please support your Bargaining Committee and reject this offer.
Please visit www.usw6500.isivote.com or call 1-888-357-7482 to place your vote on the current contract offer. You will need your Personal Identification Number. Please support your Bargaining Committee and reject this offer.
SUDBURY, Ont., 13 June 2021 – The 2,500 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500 in Sudbury voted to strike on June 1st to protect health benefits and proper compensation during good times. After provoking the strike with its concessionary demands, mining giant Vale has tabled a second contract offer that includes similar take-aways with minimal improvements.
Vale’s second offer will be reviewed by Local 6500 members on Monday, June 14, followed by online voting on the proposal. The union’s bargaining committee is unanimously recommending that members reject Vale’s latest concessionary offer.
“Health and medical benefits and lack of recognition for our members’ value to the company remain crucial issues. Vale’s new offer does not adequately address these issues,” said USW Local 6500 President Nick Larochelle.
“Vale knows it provoked this strike by demanding concessions, yet it continues to attack health benefits,” Larochelle said.
“We want to be clear – our members want to get back to work, but they expect a good-faith offer from Vale that respects their concerns,” he added.
Vale’s second offer still proposes to eliminate the existing retiree health and medical benefit plan for all future hires. The company is now proposing to offer those future retirees a $1,000 “health-care savings account,” which would take away nearly 80% of the coverage currently provided to members under the existing plan. Coverage for some medications and medical supplies would be entirely eliminated.
“Vale wants to lower the standard of living for retirees in our community. In Canada, we believe we should look after one another, and that’s a concept this employer doesn’t seem to understand,” said USW staff representative Pascal Boucher.
“Eliminating post-retirement health benefits from other staff is not a justification to take away these benefits from workers who are exposed to toxic and hazardous substances throughout their careers and who often develop serious illnesses and medical conditions in retirement. The real solution is for Vale to do the right thing and maintain these vital benefits for everyone. It shouldn’t be a race to the bottom,” said Larochelle.
After accounting for cost-of-living adjustments, Vale’s new contract offer calls for 1% annual wage increases, and little to nothing on pensions. Workers in the defined-benefit pension plan are offered a $100 increase in the pre-65 monthly benefit and a $2 increase on the basic pension by the end of the proposed five-year contract, while Vale is offering no increase in its contributions to members enrolled in the defined-contribution pension plan.
Paying out shareholders at the expense of workers and Canadian taxpayers:
Vale’s financial reports indicate its shareholders were paid a whopping US $3.88 billion (CAN $4.7 billion) in dividends in the first...
We will likely schedule a monthly membership meeting on or about the last week of June. It may be online but I’m waiting to see if restrictions lift in the next few weeks.
We will likely schedule a monthly membership meeting on or about the last week of June. It may be online but I’m waiting to see if restrictions lift in the next few weeks.
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Shirts are for sale if you are interested in supporting your bargaining committee. They are $20.00 each. There is a picture attached to the email. If you are interested please see Geoff Oberfrank in North Testroom ( Days this weekend, Nights on Wednesday & Thursday – 12 hours ) , Ed Bratetich in North Testroom ( Days on Monday & Tuesday - 12 hours), Peter Junker in North Testroom ( Nights on Monday & Tuesday – 12 hours ) or Matt Major in the Oil Temper ( Sunday to Thursday 8 hours Nights ). The deadline to order shirts is Thursday June 17th at 7pm. Any money that is left over from the order of shirts will be donated to a charity.
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Shirts are for sale if you are interested in supporting your bargaining committee. They are $20.00 each. There is a picture attached below. If you are interested please see Geoff Oberfrank in North Testroom ( Days this weekend, Nights on Wednesday & Thursday – 12 hours ) , Ed Bratetich in North Testroom ( Days on Monday & Tuesday - 12 hours), Peter Junker in North Testroom ( Nights on Monday & Tuesday – 12 hours ) or Matt Major in the Oil Temper ( Sunday to Thursday 8 hours Nights ). The deadline to order shirts is Thursday June 17th at 7pm. Any money that is left over from the order of shirts will be donated to a charity.
The negotiating committee has prepared our proposals this past week. We went through all the submitted surveys. We begin Monday morning and I would personally like to thank the committee for putting in some long days and hard work this past week!!
While we are out of the plant we will be available for emergencies. If you have an issue with the schedule or something minor, please see one of the shop Stewards,
