"Vale Inco workers in Sudbury, Ont., have soundly rejected the company's latest contract offer.
In two rounds of voting on Thursday, 88.7 per cent of striking nickel miners at United Steelworkers Local 6500 rejected the Brazilian mining conglomerate's latest contract offer.
Their colleagues at local 6200 at the nickel miner's operation in Port Colborne, Ont., are set to cast their votes today.
On Sunday, after talks led by veteran mediator Kevin Burkett broke down, Vale opted to go to union members directly to vote on a five-year pact. The company had previously rejected a proposal by union leadership to go to binding arbitration to settle the strike which has gone on since July.
The union's bargaining committee had unanimously recommended that members reject the offer.
The company says it still hopes to find a settlement that protects the business in the long term and meets employee needs.
However, no new talks are planned to resolve the strike, which involves about 3,000 workers in Sudbury and another 130 in Port Colborne.
Acrimonious talks
At issue is Vale's proposal to reduce a bonus tied to the price of nickel. In addition, workers opposed a plan by the company to exempt new employees from its defined-benefit pension plan, which guarantees employees a reliable and steady income after retirement.
The company is proposing to provide them with a defined-contribution plan, which bases retirement benefits on investment returns.
Several months into the dispute, Vale made the controversial decision to start the nickel smelter using non-striking workers to keep production going as nickel prices rise.
The decision angered union officials, who say it was a direct attempt to crush the union. They have plead their case in front of Ontario's labour board and even picketed Inco's foregn customers to no avail.
There have even been several incidents of alleged violence along picket lines that are now before the courts."
