Contract talks between Vale and United Steelworkers Local 9508, representing about 130 workers at Voisey's Bay fly-in nickel mine in northern Labrador, ended after two days July 20 with no deal. The almost year-long strike began last Aug. 1.

Earlier this month, also after almost a year on the picket line, striking Steelworkers at Local 6500 in Sudbury and Local 6200 in Port Colborne voted about 75 per cent July 9 to ratify a five-year deal with Brazilian mining giant Vale, four days short of a year of going on strike at those two Ontario sites.

It was the longest strike in Sudbury's history and the longest strike in Vale's 68-year-history. There have been nine strikes at the former Inco operations in Sudbury since 1958, including an 8 ½-month one from Sept. 15, 1978 until June 7, 1979. It remains the biggest strike in Canadian history in terms of lost workdays.

Vale said in a statement there has been "little progress towards a new collective agreement" in Voisey's Bay."

"We are very frustrated and extremely disappointed," said Tom Paddon, general manager of Vale's operations in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"To date, the USW has rejected three full settlement proposals tabled by the company over the past 12 months of negotiation," Paddon said. "At the prompting of the conciliation officers, the USW tabled a new counter-proposal that contained no compromise on substantive issues and included financial demands translating into an 8 per cent increase in compensation over their prior proposal. The current USW economic demands would increase labour costs at Vale's operations in Labrador by about 45 per cent over the previous collective agreement.

"We entered this round of talks with the objective of reaching a deal that meets the needs of our employees and our operations in Labrador. Unfortunately, the lack of flexibility being shown by USW at the negotiating table diminishes that possibility," said Paddon.

"This company appears not to be serious about striking a deal," said Boyd Bussey, United Steelworkers staff representative. "Vale is offering a lesser bonus system than the one given to Sudbury Local 6500 just two weeks ago.

"The proposed bonus system is unacceptable. It's based entirely on incentives rather than the present one based solely on the average realized price of nickel or the profitability of the company. The Sudbury bonus has a nickel component and a world wide company profitability components," said Bussey.

"The company has also refused to discuss other outstanding issues on the table until the union agrees to the new bonus system," emphasized Bussey.

"We need to see a serious effort on Vale's part, if negotiations are to succeed."

"We will continue to move forward with our operations at Voisey's Bay," Paddon said.

No further talks are scheduled.