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Nickel prices trending upwards and workers deserve to benefit

To the Editor: Vale’s pressure on the Manitoba Operations to remain cash-flow positive and sustainable has been relentless. Consequently, our members have improved productivity, reduced costs and worked with an absolute sense of urgency for years.

To the Editor:

Vale’s pressure on the Manitoba Operations to remain cash-flow positive and sustainable has been relentless. Consequently, our members have improved productivity, reduced costs and worked with an absolute sense of urgency for years. 

To ensure our relevance and longevity, we have proven and we continue to prove that we can be competitive and profitable in all price cycles. But Vale insists that these are hard times and there are still challenges ahead, and we are expected to believe that market forces are such that the price of nickel is caught in a never-ending decline. Given Vale’s approach, I know that I am not alone in feeling uneasy about the security of our pensions, benefits, wages and the future of our livelihoods. 

In December 2017, Christian Plumb of Reuters News Agency reported, “Brazilian miner Vale SA dialled back its nickel output forecasts for the next five years … although the world’s top producer of the metal praised its longer-term prospects on likely soaring demand for electric cars.” Plumb continued, “The rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles have companies scrambling to lock in supplies of key ingredients like nickel, cobalt and lithium.” A Vale executive “pointed to market forecasts that electric vehicles would represent between seven per cent and 20 per cent of the global auto market by 2025, up from one per cent in 2017.” Vale’s chief executive officer Fabio Schvartsman concluded, “I’m very positive about nickel, much more positive than I was some months ago.”

Nickel is called a cyclical resource for good reason. And it’s more than clear to each and every one of us that the price for nickel on the open market is on an upward swing. In late March 2018, Bloomberg released a report on total compensation in United States dollars for top mining executives. Bloomberg’s journalists, Watson and Melin, stated, “Vale currently reports the aggregate compensation it pays to its six senior managers including CEO Fabio Schvartsman. Regulatory filings show the company paid about $28.8 million to top executives in 2017 and plans to increase that to $31 million this year.” 

In view of the compensation that Vale’s executive team accepts and supports, so too should our membership be valued for its efforts, dedication to safety, and optimal performance – and I believe that we should all share in Vale’s successes and rewards together. 

If I become the president of United Steelworkers Local 6166, I will ensure that we hold the line for all that we have achieved and all that we have acquired, and we will most certainly advance our goals and interests for the long haul and for the good of one and all. 

Warren Luky

 

Thompson

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