New Caledonian unions back Canada's striking Vale workers
Updated
Unions representing workers at the Vale Inco nickel mine in New Caledonia have agreed to back strike action taken by their counterparts in Ontario, Canada. The Worker's Force trade union has hosted two of the workers who have been on strike for three and a half months, as well as a representative from the United Steel Workers (USW) union. It's part of a global push for support by the union, which has also held talks with Vale workers in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales. The visit comes just weeks after the Worker's Force union sent a letter to the president of New Caledonia, asking him to investigate reports that workers at the local Vale Inco mine were over-worked and under-trained. They've also raised concerns about a series of environmental issues at the plant, which they believe has jeopardised the safety of the workers. Speaking to Helene Hofman from the capital Noumea, the research director for Canada's United Steel Workers union, Charles Campbell, said the Canadians employed by the Brazilian miner had similar concerns.
Presenter: Helene Hofman
Speakers: Research director for Canada's United Steel Workers Union, Charles Campbell
CAMPBELL: The experiences have definitely point to similarity and when in Australia and here, we have definitely found when we describe our situation, the workers nod their heads and raise similarities that they have seen since Vale bought their company in case of here in New Caledonia, its 2006, in Australia, its 2007. Again they have seen many of the same efforts and practices on the part of the company to roll back things that workers have fought for over the years.
HOFMAN: I understand those things are, for example, pensions and I know there have been some concerns in New Caledonia that under training and under working employees. Are those the kind of problems you are talking about?
CAMPBELL: That is definitely among them, I mean the tension system in Canada is so completely different that it is not an exact parallel, but the problem that Vale Inco is trying to operate its facilities without giving people the proper training or adequate staffing. What we here from the people of New Caledonia defnitely matches up with what we see happening back in February, where for the first time in Inco's history, they say they are going to start production without our 3,000 members, who normally make the mines, the mills, the smelters work. They started training people who either un union or people who are members of our union, but under a different agreement for the office workers and so they are training the office workers to do the work in the mines and the smelters. It's actually hard to believe that they are serious about that, but if they are serious about it, they could have the same kind of problems in February that they have had here in New Caledonia with the workers not being properly trained.
HOFMAN: So from your end, you've now garnered the support of these workers unions in New Caledonia and also in Australia. What have you been able to give them in return?
CAMPBELL: For now, it's principally, the exchange of information, the commitment to stay in touch, the commitment that when if they find themselves on strike or otherwise in conflict with Vale, that we will definitely provide whatever support we can and to continue building ties for the long term as well. Because in a world where Vale and for that matter other companies are more and more operating internationally and they certainly coordinate their policies between Canada and Australia and New Caledonia. We need to be equally active in making sure that the workers on their side are doing everything they can to support each other.
HOFMAN: And then I guess in New Caledonia, the Vale Inco facility does not go into production until January. I suppose that is what you have heard from their case, it is probably then that they are going to need your support?
CAMPBELL: Vale Inc has announced that their mine here in New Caledonia will start production in January. What we've found in general here, both from the workers who work here and also from others in the community is there is a lot of scepticism as to whether that will really happen between the concern about the acid leak and other events there and indications that the process is not working nearly as well as the company would have hoped. It is not clear to us that they really are going to start in January. It may well and among the points of similarity, I mean time will tell on this, but we begin to see indications that when they say they are going to start production in February with people who don't know how to do the work, or they say they are going to start production in January in New Caledonia, and it's widely thought that that just is not technically possible, that they may be doing more in the way of trying to propagandise and scare our members into accepting concessions that they are just not going to accept as opposed to really setting out what is going to happen.
