Leo Gerard

By Angela Gemmill

The 2,700 members of Steelworkers Local 6500 are hearing details about their new five year contract with Vale.

The membership will vote this week on whether to accept the deal, which their bargaining unit recommended they accept.

After a bitter 12-month strike five years ago, Leo Gerard, the International President of the Steelworkers union called this round of negotiations ‘historic’.

That’s because the union’s bargaining unit and Vale reached the agreement one-month before the current contract is set to expire (May 31).

Gerard says neither the union nor the company wanted to see labour unrest, so both worked together respectfully to reach a tentative agreement.

He feels it was better for both sides to work collaboratively together because it means they can attract workers and train workers here.

Gerard sees the positive relationship between the Steelworkers and the company translating into the workforce, since there are now third and fourth generations of miners joining the industry.

The results of the Local 6500 ratification vote should be known by Friday.

(Picture: International President of Steelworkers Union, Leo Gerard; from April 2014)