Shaw says B.C. employees can't have paid leave for COVID-19 shots

Telecom giant says employees can leave work to get vaccinated 'as their role allows'

Ethan Sawyer · CBC News · Posted: Jun 28, 2021

This Shaw employee, who CBC has agreed not to name for fear of reprisal from his employer, says customers are often shocked to learn some workers aren't covered by legislation giving workers three hours of paid leave to get their COVID-19 vaccine. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

A Shaw Communications employee and his union are speaking out against the telecommunications giant, after it refused to give some of its B.C. workers paid leave to get their COVID-19 vaccinations, citing federal regulations.

"I was surprised and dismayed," said the employee, who has been with the company for more than 10 years, and whose identity CBC News has agreed to keep confidential for fear of retaliation.

"It kind of felt as if we didn't matter."

In April, B.C. amended its Employment Standards Act to provide workers with up to three hours of paid leave from work in order to get their COVID-19 vaccines.

Shaw and other telecommunications companies, however, are federally regulated — highlighting a discrepancy in how provincial and federal bodies have supported workers amid the national vaccination campaign.

The employee and his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 213, claim Shaw told workers the provincial changes "did not apply" to employees and that they would have to use personal leave if they wanted to get vaccinated during working hours.

Robin Nedila of IBEW 213 says his union is concerned members aren't getting vaccinated because they have little spare time and are reluctant to use personal days to do so. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"We reached out to Shaw a number of times and were told the same thing — that members could use their own personal leave for vaccination," said Robin Nedila, IBEW 213 assistant business manager. "It really is shameful."

Shaw confirms that employees looking to get vaccinated during working hours have been told to use personal days, depending on what their schedule allows.

"Shaw offers all employees the ability to take time from their workday to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, as their role allows," wrote Shaw spokesperson Chethan Lakshman.

"If an employee is in a role that does not offer the flexibility to receive a COVID-19 vaccine during their regular working hours, employees are able to use personal days, which are separate from vacation time and designed to support time off required for medical and/or personal obligations."

By comparison, a staff representative for United Steelworkers, Local 1944, which represents both Shaw and Telus workers in B.C., confirms Telus is giving workers three hours' paid leave, as long as they can provide proof of vaccination.

The unnamed employee, who has received his first dose, and who visits six or more locations every shift — including homes, medical offices, and retail spaces — says the policy has served as a barrier for Shaw's staff, delaying some from getting their vaccine, and discouraging others entirely.

"We've been offered to use our own personal days or sick time to [get vaccinated] but we have those days and that time for other reasons," he said.

Labour Minister Filomena Tassi says she is concerned that Shaw is not giving workers paid leave, despite amendments to the B.C. Employment Standards Act. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Calls for change

But while the gap in policy remains in place, at least one local MP thinks there's a quick fix, should Ottawa be interested.

"The federal government could easily amend the Canada Labour Code or come up with an order in council," said federal health critic Don Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver-Kingsway.

Davies says he wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government on May 19 outlining his concerns but hasn't heard back.

Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, meanwhile, tells CBC News she is "concerned" by the reports and that her ministry has been "working closely with organizations representing federally regulated employers" — encouraging "employers to accommodate employees."

Nedila and IBEW 213 say they want to see more from Tassi's office.

"We're hoping that all federally regulated workers and, more specifically, all Shaw employees everywhere, should be given three hours to go get vaccinated," said Nedila.

Outsourcing Irving Shipbuilding warehouse work 'shameful' says union

NEWS PROVIDED BY Unifor

HALIFAX, NS, June 25, 2021 /CNW/ - Irving Shipbuilding's decision to outsource 15 unionized warehousing jobs to its own subsidiary, Bayside Industries, is a shameful attack on unionized workers, says Unifor.

"Unifor is saying enough is enough and has filed charges against the company at the labour board and we are asking the labour board to uphold the labour relations principle of common employer," said Jerry Dias, Unifor's National President.

Exterior of the Halifax Shipyard building behind ships in the water. (CNW Group/Unifor)

Provincial labour board hearings begin June 28.

"This would prevent the company from outsourcing the work to itself and the shady practice of getting rid of unionized workers to hire someone else for less. We've seen it time and time again during the pandemic, how corporate greed has decimated communities and undermined workers. Shame on Irving," said Dias.

The federal government's National Shipbuilding Strategy project was intended to create good paying jobs, stimulate the economy and bring workers home from Western Canada.

"It was never intended to allow corporations to bid the work and then subcontract it back to themselves at lower wages in order to pocket more profits," said Adam Hersey, Unifor Local MWF 1 business agent and metal fabricator of 11 years at the Halifax Shipyard.

Outsourcing will push workers out of their hard-earned fields and force them to retrain into different departments – just so the company can save $10 to $15 an hour per person.

"It's a slap in the face, considering how hard we worked to help this employer secure that contract. We bid on a contract with the current wage and we won it, and now Irving is outsourcing our work to another company it already owns. This clearly doesn't pass the smell test," said Hersey.

Unifor Local MWF 1 – which represents 1,000 shipbuilders – and Irving reached a collective agreement in 2018, which acknowledges that warehousing work has been done by the local since 1949.

Outsourcing is not new at Irving. In 2020, 35 workers were laid off after their jobs were moved to South Korea.

The union is asking Irving Shipbuilding to reconsider its decision and keep its loyal warehousing employees who have worked hard for many years.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

SOURCE Unifor
http://www.unifor.org

Analysis: Clark rode big-time union donations to second term as Saskatoon mayor

For the most part, last year's municipal election showed the influence of money, but there were some exceptions.

Author of the article: Phil Tank • Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Publishing date:  Jul 03, 2021

Mayor Charlie Clark speaks with media after being declared the winner of the municipal election in Saskatoon, SK on Friday, November 13, 2020. PHOTO BY MATT SMITH /Saskatoon SarPhoenix

With less than a week before the 2020 Saskatoon civic election, three mayoral candidates held a most unusual joint news conference.

Zubair Sheikh, Cary Tarasoff and Mark Zielke united to decry the electoral system, and specifically the mayoral campaign spending limit of $229,497, based on Saskatoon’s population.

Their argument was based on the premise that the campaign spending limit effectively excluded lesser known candidates from competing in a contest that was really about who could raise the most money.

The trio suggested $76,000 as a more appropriate spending limit, noting the $68,776 mayoral spending limit in Regina for the 2020 vote.

Based on the eventual results in Saskatoon — infamously delayed by a severe snowstorm — it’s hard to disagree that money played a significant role in the final results.

Incumbent Mayor Charlie Clark topped the campaign contribution contest with $203,335.41, slightly more than he raised in his initial successful mayoral campaign in 2016.

Former mayor Don Atchison holds the record for campaign contributions with $209,668.77 in 2016, although he only spent $186,764.59.

Clark set a new record for campaign spending in 2020 by becoming the first mayoral candidate to crack the $200,000 mark with $203,335.41. He beat his previous spending record in 2016 by about $5,000.

Clark also topped the polls in the November election that was severely hindered by the snowstorm and attracted the lowest share of voters, 27 per cent, in an election that did not feature three acclamations since 1982.

Clark won the delayed election with about 47 per cent of the vote, followed by former provincial cabinet minister Rob Norris with 26 per cent and Atchison with 20 per cent.

Those results also mirror the campaign spending order; Norris was closest to Clark with $192,045.75 and Atchison was well back at $114,436.

That’s very similar to the spending and results from 2016, when Clark and Atchison each raised and spent more than twice as much as political newcomer Kelley Moore, who collected about 22 per cent of the votes.

Moore warned after the election that she could well be the last unknown to challenge credibly for the mayor’s chair, given the growing influence of money.

Sheikh, Tarsoff and Zielke finished with less than seven per cent of the combined vote. Sheikh’s $32,550 campaign, most of which appears to have been paid for from his own pocket, garnered just 1.23 per cent of the vote.

So where did Clark’s money come from and how did he, Norris and Atchison raise so much during the economic challenges of the pandemic?

Most of the top three campaigns got their donations from individuals, not unions or corporations, but the latter also played a role.

UNION DOLLARS

What’s most striking about Clark’s contributions is the degree to which unions contributed to his campaign.

Clark’s campaign war chest was boosted by $35,500 in union donations, more than 10 times the amount he received from unions in 2016.

The amount of union money in Clark’s campaign was nearly twice the eye-popping $18,000 the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615 gave to Moore in 2016, which was believed then to be the largest single contribution in Saskatoon civic election history.

Clark’s record-setting campaign was bolstered by three $10,000 donations from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1400, the United Steelworkers and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

What’s puzzling about this is not only the huge increase from 2020, but that Clark tried unsuccessfully during his first term as mayor to move toward a ban on donations from unions and corporations.

One likely reason for his union support is that his chief opponent was perceived to be Norris, who, as labour minister in Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government, introduced legislation that was reviled by organized labour.

Part of the law was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The wounds from that battle appear to have not quite healed, even though Norris would have had no direct influence on labour laws as Saskatoon mayor.

The Norris campaign appears to have failed to attract any union money, although donors who contribute less than $100 can remain anonymous.

Atchison got a lone $1,000 donation from CUPE Local 59, a huge drop from 2016, when he attracted $12,500 in union donations, including $10,000 from Saskatoon Firefighters Local 80.

Unions tend to donate to the candidate they think will win, which is almost always incumbents, regardless of political leanings. That could explain why a centre-right candidate like Atchison got more than three times as much from unions as left-leaning Clark in 2016.

BUSINESS BUCKS

Norris eclipsed the ATU Local 615 record cash donation in the last election with $20,000 from Kamp Shield Solutions, an Indigenous-owned Saskatoon company.

Norris also got $5,000 from Enviroway Detergent Manufacturing Inc., the same amount the Saskatoon business donated to Clark in 2016.

Atchison received seven $5,000 donations from corporations, including one from Sixth Avenue Arbutus. That’s the company that was spurned by city council, including Clark, in its attempt to establish a solar-powered community on the edge of Saskatoon.

This seems odd, since Norris was the one who repeatedly raised this issue, even well before the election.

One of Atchison’s $5,000 donations came from a numbered company. That’s the largest such donation in the 2020 campaign. Atchison got $7,000 from a numbered corporation in 2016.

All three of the top mayoral candidates received contributions from numbered companies, two apiece from six different entities.

Zielke raised nearly $3,000 in corporate donations, despite his much-touted business connections, so it’s easy to see the disparity between the big boys and the lesser knowns.

NOTABLE DONORS

Norris also set a record for the largest listed in-kind donation — goods or services rather than cash — with $32,064.88 attributed to Bob Baheri, the president and CEO of Enviroway.

Norris also claimed an in-kind donation of $19,629.94 from Dale Richardson, who helped manage his campaign.

Norris got the largest cash donation from an individual in the 2020 campaign, $8,500 from Jillian Loeppky. He also got $5,000 from William Norris.

Clark got $7,000 from the most well-known contributor to any campaign, best-selling author Yann Martel. That’s down from $10,000 for Clark in 2016, when Martel also played a very visible role in Clark’s campaign.

Clark’s famous in-law, Hollywood star Zach Galifianakis, again posted a video in support of Clark’s campaign on social media, as he did in 2016. But again, he was not listed among Clark’s donors.

Ryan Meili, who contributed to Clark’s 2016 campaign before he was elected NDP leader, did not donate last year, although NDP MLA Vicki Mowat gave Clark $250.

People with the last name Buhler, including Clark’s wife, Sarah, gave nearly $10,000 toward his campaign. He also got nearly $5,000 from people with the last name Clark and more than $10,000 from 11 donors with the last name Wiebe.

Atchison received a $9,500 in-kind donation from Brad Fenty and $5,000 from Jack Brodsky and his wife, Shirley. Brodsky ran Atchison’s 2016 campaign.

COUNCIL CASH

In general, council candidates raised far more money than their challengers and crushed them in spending. All nine incumbent councillors who ran in the 2020 election were re-elected, all but one by comfortable margins.

That’s probably why there’s a video circulating on social media with 2020 challengers lobbying for lower spending limits.

But money fails to tell the entire story.

Two council incumbents were outspent by challengers and still won.

Jonathan Naylor outspent Cynthia Block in Ward 6 ($19,764.06 to $18,976.79) and Jim Rhode spent more than Mairin Loewen in Ward 7 ($22,896.43 to $19,117.79).

Both challengers placed a distant second.

Several records were set in the Ward 7 race, with total spending by four candidates topping $63,000. That beats the more than $51,000 spent in 2016 between seven candidates in Ward 6. And it’s nearly as high as the spending in the 2009 mayoral campaign.

Rhode’s campaign ranks as the most expensive ever for a council seat, and he raised almost all of the money through donations. But it was only good enough to garner less than a quarter of the votes.

Naylor appears to have paid for his campaign entirely, but got less than 19 per cent of the vote.

Incumbent Darren Hill spent nearly twice as much as his closest challenger, Kevin Boychuk ($14,977.49 to $7,880.90), yet Hill only barely squeaked by with a 56-vote margin and just under 34 per cent of the vote. Hill’s donations included $4,592.49 from himself.

In vacant Ward 3, Nick Sackville outspent winner David Kirton $12,705.91 to $6,802.80, but Kirton topped the polls with 28 per cent to Sackville’s 22 per cent in an eight-candidate field. Kirton’s higher profile as a radio show host likely helped him win.

Incumbent Zach Jeffries raised the most of any council candidate with $32,711.47 and spent $22,483.79 — which still bested his two challengers combined by more than two to one.

Bev Dubois ($15,259.71) outspent her one Ward 9 challenger by nearly four to one, and Sarina Gersher (Ward 8) outspent her two challengers combined by more than three to one with $16,106.13.

Hilary Gough ($16,124.81) in Ward 2 outspent her challenger by nearly six times and Ward 5’s Randy Donauer ($16,209.24) outspent his challenger more than sevenfold.

Even Troy Davies, who was acclaimed in Ward 4, raised $7,543 and claimed $6,460.59 in expenses — more than most challengers spent on campaigns.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

Hydro-Quebec engineers score win on teleworking grievance with Crown corporation

The Canadian PressStaff
Published Friday, July 2, 2021

A Hydro Quebec logo is seen on their head office building Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL -- Quebec's Administrative Labour Court has come down in favour of the union representing Hydro-Quebec's engineers in a dispute over teleworking.

The court issued an order telling Hydro-Quebec to cease obstructing or interfering in Syndicat professional des ingenieurs d'Hydro-Quebec activities. The Crown corporation was also ordered not to negotiate working conditions related to teleworking with employees who are union members.

The order doesn't prevent Hydro-Quebec from implementing a teleworking program even after employees are able to return to offices, but rather from negotiating the conditions of teleworking directly with union members.

The dispute between the two parties dates back to before the COVID-19 pandemic when, in 2019, Hydro-Quebec adopted a “management rule” concerning teleworking.

During the pandemic, when a return to offices was anticipated, Hydro-Quebec had weighed establishing “teleworking team charters” which focused on the organization of teleworking days and in-office days.

The union contested the charters, alleging that Hydro-Quebec could not implement the program by a simple directive issued by management.

The union represents 2,200 salaried engineers working for the Crown corporation.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 2, 2021.

ARGENTINA

Government intervenes to avert strike in

 health-worker pay dispute

Labour Ministry bans healthcare workers from staging two days of walkouts, ordering 15 days of talks between unions and companies from sector to resolve pay dispute.


HEALTH-WORKERS UNIONS HAD CALLED FOUR-HOUR STOPPAGES OVER TWO DAYS AMID A PAY DISPUTE. | NA

Faced with the threat of patients being left without urgent medical care in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic due to a pay dispute, the government moved to head off planned strike action from health-workers this week

On Wednesday, the Labour Ministry ordered 15 days of mandatory conciliation talks between health unions, led by Carlos West Ocampo and Héctor Daer, and companies from the sector to resolve the dispute.

The portfolio, headed by Claudio Moroni, told union leaders to "nullify any direct action measure that they were implementing and/or have planned to implement” and summoned representatives from both sides to the Ministry’s headquarters for a hearing next Wednesday.

Health-workers unions had earlier announced four-hour stoppages for Thursday and Friday, saying they would only treat urgent priorities during those hours amid an ongoing pay dispute. The news followed assemblies in hospitals, clinics and health institutions across the country. Workers at private institutions were also set to join the walkout.

Grouped under the banner of the Federación de Asociaciones de los Trabajadores de la Sanidad (FATSA), representing some 250,000 employees, workers at hospitals and clinics are seeking a salary increase of between 43 and 45 percent, in line with recent increases secured by unions representing truckers and bankers. Annual inflation totals 48.8 percent over the last 12 months, according to government data.

The strike threat comes at a challenging moment for Argentina’s health system, which is split into three sectors of public hospitals, union-run obras sociales healthcare schemes and private prepaid medicine. Firms say they can't meet the pay demands if they are not allowed to increase their fees for services, a move the government will not allow. They argue that the health system has suffered "dramatic underfunding" for years.

After more than a year of battling the coronavirus pandemic, many hospitals say resources are stretched and that staff are close to exhaustion. Covid-19 cases and fatalities remain stubbornly high, with more than 21,000 confirmed cases and almost 500 fatalities recorded on Thursday alone. The previous day’s death toll was 638.

However, occupancy of intensive care units nationwide has slowly lowered over the past week to 66.3 percent, dropping to 64.2 percent in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), as of Thursday.

– TIMES/NA

2,500 County Workers in and Around Chicago Are Currently on Strike

JACOBIN
AN INTERVIEW WITH ERICKA WHITE 07.04.2021

Cook County workers never stopped working during the pandemic. At the bargaining table, they say that Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle refuses to recognize their sacrifices — which is why 2,500 county workers are currently in their second week of a strike. We spoke to one of the strikers.
Cook County workers represented by SEIU Local 73 are on strike. (Courtesy SEIU Local 73)

INTERVIEW BY Sarah Hurd

The custodians, technicians, and clerks of Cook County, Illinois, never stopped working during the pandemic, even as many of their coworkers died of the virus. This week, they aren’t working. The 2,500 members of SEIU Local 73 are now in their second week of a strike.

Local 73 has been negotiating a contract for more than eight months, and the key point of debate is health benefits. The county has threatened to increase premiums by up to 80 percent over the length of the next contract. Seeing the success of fellow SEIU members at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Chicago Public Schools, Cook County workers want something similar. So far, the county, under the leadership of Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle, appears to want to make an example of Local 73. Despite the local’s support of Preckwinkle during her failed 2019 mayoral run, her negotiation team has made deals to settle contracts with other unions in the city with wage increases these striking workers are denied.

Sarah Hurd talked about the strike to Ericka White, who works in the procurement office of Cook County and is a union steward and negotiating team member for Local 73.
SH


What is the most important piece of these contract negotiations, for you?
EW


For me, it’s about basic dignity and respect for workers who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and before. Cook County government never closed down during the pandemic. The people using the services of Cook County are the least of us — we couldn’t shut down the hospitals, we couldn’t shut down the jails, we couldn’t shut down the corporate offices. We didn’t have that luxury.

We’ve always worked hard, and we should not be pushed aside like we’re insignificant. We provide a service for Cook County government, and we’re determined to not let that be forgotten. The main thing we’re fighting for is our health care coverage. The county is proposing increasing our health care premiums over the life of our four-year contract by almost 80 percent.

SH


Has the pandemic made you and your coworkers think more about adequate health care coverage?
EW


A great many of our coworkers, especially those in the clinics and jails, have contracted the virus. Some not once but twice. We have employees who have passed away due to COVID while doing their jobs. We are a county health system, so we don’t turn anybody away. We had whole floors at the hospital that were COVID floors, and our members were the ones working them. For parts of it, they didn’t even have PPE.

Our workers are passionate about the work they do. They went to work every day. Others opened our homes up as home offices when the county buildings closed down because the work of the county never stopped.
SH


Toni Preckwinkle is not only the president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, she is also your boss. How do you feel about how she’s handled the union’s demands?
EW


It doesn’t feel like she’s been willing to listen. We have not seen her at any of the negotiations. She has a management team in the labor relations department that conducts these negotiations. From what they’ve put across the table, it doesn’t seem like they are interested in negotiating a fair and equitable contract for our members.

We’ve been negotiating now for almost nine months. We are in the economics phase of it right now. This week, the SEIU negotiating team has been negotiating well into the morning. We got out of negotiation sessions at about 2:15 AM — the night before we got out about 2:47 AM. And this is after we’ve been on the picket line all day long. Since Saturday we have been trying to negotiate nonstop, to no avail.
SH


I know Local 73 supported President Preckwinkle in the past. Do you think this dispute will affect that support for her in the future?
EW


Absolutely.
SH


A wide range of workers are on strike right now: office workers, health care workers, many others. Has it been challenging to bring everybody together?
EW


We are very much together, and it wasn’t a struggle to bring us together. We are all experiencing the same issues throughout the county. No matter what department you work for, we are all experiencing the very same thing.
SH


It feels like we’re in a time right now when many different kinds of workers are seizing their power and realizing that the world doesn’t really function without them doing these jobs. Have workers in other fields who are fighting for themselves had an impact on Local 73 members?
EW


Yes. We are in Chicago and have come off of two great [recent] strikes that SEIU were a part of, with the University of Illinois Chicago workers as well as the Chicago public-school workers in conjunction with the Chicago Teachers Union. So we had the privilege of watching before us the victories [those strikes produced] and how it brought those organizations closer together and made them willing to fight. Now that we are on the front lines, those very organizations are coming out in support of us, because they know why we’re fighting and they’ve been there.

So they are encouraging us to stay in this fight. They are encouraging us by coming out to the strike lines with us, giving us pep talks, and letting us know what’s to come.
SH


What are you expecting to happen in the negotiations in the next few days?

EW


The SEIU 73 negotiating team never left the table. We are just waiting on Cook County to say, “Let’s get back to the table and finish this. Let’s work out a settlement for a fair and equitable contract for the very workers that have kept the county going and never let it shut down.”

I am a woman of faith and I’ve prayed on this. I asked God to let it end in such a way that it’s equitable for the members. I’m hopeful we’re on the right path. Will it happen overnight? I won’t say that, but when we put in the work, things happen. SEIU is ready to put in the work; we’re just waiting on the county.

We are losing pay every day. We are not rich, so when we lose a day’s pay, we have to make decisions about what we can pay and what can wait. It hurts. But we’re in it for the long haul because we know we’re worth it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ericka White works in the procurement office of Cook County. She is a union steward and negotiating team member for SEIU Local 73.

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Sarah Hurd is a producer for the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America’s Midwest Socialist podcast.

Report: Vale strike drives up price for battery-grade nickel

Darren MacDonald

CTV News Northern Ontario Digital Content Producer
@Darrenmacd Contact

Published Friday, July 2, 2021


Adrian Gardner, principal analyst for nickel markets at research firm Wood Mackenzie, told Bloomberg News the strike at Vale in Sudbury could last for several months. (File)


SUDBURY -- A nickel market analyst expects the strike at Vale operations in Sudbury to drag on, as prices for the high-grade nickel produced in the area increases, in part because of the local labour disruption.

According to a story from Bloomberg, the strike is putting pressure on the supply of nickel needed to make batteries for electric vehicles.

"Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries," the story said. "Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative."

That shift is increasing competition for briquette, the main form of nickel stored at LME warehouses. Supply has fallen by nine per cent since a peak in April and are now at the lowest in more than a year, Bloomberg said.

"Battery-grade nickel is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, helping pack more energy into cells and allowing producers to reduce use of cobalt, a more costly metal that typically has a less transparent supply chain," the story said.

"The market for such nickel is expected to be in a tight balance in the next two to three years and could slip into a deficit as early as 2024, according to energy data and analysis firm BloombergNEF."

Members of Steelworkers Local 6500 have been on strike since last month. Issues include benefits for new workers.

Adrian Gardner, principal analyst for nickel markets at research firm Wood Mackenzie, told Bloomberg the strike could last for several months. Vale faced a yearlong strike in Canada back in 2009 and 2010.

Striking workers represented by United Steelworkers Local 6500 have twice rejected a wage offer presented by the Brazilian mining giant this year.

Read the full story here.

Related Stories
Pop-up rally in support of striking Vale workers
Sudbury Steelworkers Local 6500 rejects Vale's second offer
Vale strikers collect money for food bank

VALE Strike impacting battery market
Analyst senses labour dispute could extend for months

Author of the article: Sudbury Star Staff
Publishing date: Jul 02, 2021 • 

Family and friends of striking USW 6500 members, along with supporters from the local labour community, take part in a rally Wednesday afternoon at the Four Corners. Many of the signs read: "We stand by you, as you fight for them," in reference to the union's concern for the next generation of Vale workers. PHOTO BY JIM MOODIE/SUDBURY STAR

A strike at Vale’s Sudbury operations is taxing a nickel market that’s key to powering electric vehicles.

The job action by USW Local 6500 is now entering its second month, with no new contract talks planned.

Bloomberg News notes that Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries.

Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative.

That shift is increasing competition for briquette, pushing up North American premiums, or extra charges consumers pay on top of nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange, as stockpiles of the metal dwindle, Bloomberg said.

Inventories of briquette, the main form of nickel stored at LME warehouses, have fallen nine per cent since a peak in April and are now at the lowest in more than a year.

“Given the challenges at a number of Class 1 nickel operations over 2021 to date, availability of material for end customer purchases is more limited that might have been thought,” Colin Hamilton, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, told Bloomberg.

Battery-grade nickel is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, helping pack more energy into cells and allowing producers to reduce use of cobalt, a more costly metal that typically has a less transparent supply chain.

The market for such nickel is expected to be in a tight balance in the next two to three years and could slip into a deficit as early as 2024, according to energy data and analysis firm BloombergNEF.

Bloomberg said that since the Vale strike began, the premium on briquette has risen 24 per cent and U.S. prices on June 22 hit their highest level since November 2019, according to Fastmarkets data.

Nickel for three-month delivery posted an eight per cent weekly gain last week on the London Metal Exchange, the biggest since August 2019.

On Thursday, nickel was selling for US $2.115.

“The strike is not the main driver of nickel price increase, but it will be the main driver on the North American nickel premium increase,” Adrian Gardner, principal analyst for nickel markets at research firm Wood Mackenzie, told Bloomberg.

Gardner said he isn’t optimistic about a solution to the Vale strike and anticipates the labor dispute could extend for many months. Vale faced a year-long strike in Canada back in 2009 and 2010.

Striking workers represented by Local 6500 have twice rejected a contract offer presented by the Brazilian mining giant this year.

Local 6500’s bargaining committee recommended acceptance of a tentative agreement with Vale on May 31, but the membership rejected it.

Vale made a second offer two weeks later, but this time the bargaining team was not in favour and members also voted it down.

The Steelworkers say Vale’s contract offers contained concessions that union members find unacceptable and believe are not needed.

Vale said contract changes are needed to justify new investments that are needed to its Sudbury operations.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian miner this week said it will invest C $150 million ($121.15 million U.S.) to extend current mining activities in Thompson, Man. by 10 years.

“This is the largest single investment we have made in our Thompson operations in the past two decades,” Vale’s executive vice-president for base metals, Mark Travers, said in a statement.

The company said the Thompson Mine Expansion is a two-phase project and the investment announcement represents phase 1. It added phase 1 includes infrastructure such as new ventilation raises and fans, increased backfill capacity and additional power distribution.

Vale expects changes to improve current production by 30 per cent.

The Thompson orebody was first discovered in 1956 by Vale and mining began in 1961.

Vale said it will continue exploration drilling of known orebodies that hold the promise of mining well past 2040.

— with files from Reuters

350 Kingston resumes weekly climate strike

Author of the article:Brigid Goulem

Publishing date:Jul 02, 2021 •

Members of 350 Kingston protest on Princess Street on Friday, July 3, 2021, calling for meaningful and immediate action on climate change. PHOTO BY BRIGID GOULEM /The Whig-Standard

The town of Lytton, B.C., burned to the ground earlier this week following days of record-smashing heat and severe wildfires so large they developed pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which produced wind and lightning and started more fires.

In the face of such a catastrophic climate event, climate activists with 350 Kingston are resuming their weekly Fridays for Future climate strikes outside Tara’s Foods to call for immediate and meaningful action on climate change at the municipal, provincial and federal levels.

Jude Larkin, an organizer with 350 Kingston, explained that now that much of the risk of COVID-19 has subsided, the group is recommitting to addressing the growing climate crisis.

Larkin is concerned that governments are not taking action and is calling for government budgets that reflect the urgency of the issue.

“I’m most concerned that we’re not taking any action. You have to spend money proportionate to the size of the crisis. For instance, in Vancouver, 7 per cent of their municipal budget is climate,” she said in an interview with the Whig-Standard.

Despite mounting evidence of the immediate and catastrophic consequences of climate change, Larkin says the Canadian government continues to increase emissions and prioritize economic projects.

“Canada is one of the worst countries for increasing our emissions. Other countries have gone down, but we have steadily gone up and it’s because of the tarsands. We need to cancel all fossil fuel projects immediately,” she said.

Larkin is calling for a shift away from climate policies that focus on incentives and towards the implementation of mandatory changes.

“It can’t just be incentives to buy electric cars. There needs to be a commitment that there will be no more (internal combustion) cars after 2025,” she said.

Fellow activist Floyd Rudmin expressed concern that the Canadian government was investing too much money in military spending that could be directed towards meaningful climate action.

“If five million Canadians die in a week, it’s not going to be (because of) Russia; it’s going to be gigantic firestorms like in B.C. but in Toronto or Ottawa,” Rudmin said in an interview with the Whig-Standard.

Until they see meaningful action on climate change, the activists of 350 Kingston vow to be on the streets every Friday.

Video shows lightning strike as fire burns on Strawberry Hill

A number of fires have been ignited in the July 1 storm that rolled through Kamloops

Kamloops This Week
JULY 1, 2021 

A lightning strike hits the top of Strawberry Hill on July 1, igniting a fire at that spot. A lighting strike about 20 minutes earlier sparked the blaze to the right. There were two more lightning-ignited fires on the mountain above Highway 5, but all were eventually doused via Kamloops Fire Rescue Service work and Mother Nature's rain.

Photograph By CHRISTOPHER FOULDS/KTW

  

Protests delay inauguration of Chile's new constitutional assembly

By Aislinn Laing

© Reuters/PABLO SANHUEZA 

Chile's assembly holds first session to draft a new constitution

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The swearing in of the architects of Chile's new constitution got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday after protests outside and inside the venue, and clashes with police forced a delay to the event.

© Reuters/PABLO SANHUEZA Chile's assembly holds first session to draft a new constitution

Problems arose after marches organised by independent, left-wing and indigenous groups fielding delegates for the constitutional body, as well as other interest groups, met heavily armed police manning barricades outside Santiago's former congress building where the ceremony is being held.

© Reuters/IVAN ALVARADO Chile's assembly holds first session to draft a new constitution

Scuffles broke out after some participants sought to overrun the barriers, prompting police to respond with tear gas and water canons.

Delegates inside the event then remonstrated with the organisers over heavy-handed police tactics, banging drums and shouting over a youth classical orchestra playing the national anthem.

Amid demands by delegates for "repressive" special forces police to be withdrawn, the electoral court official presiding over the ceremony agreed to suspend the event until midday.

The fracas underscores the intense challenges for the drafting of a new magna carta against a backdrop of deep divisions that still simmer after Chile was torn apart by massive protests that started in October 2019 over inequality and elitism and were fueled by a fierce police response.

© Reuters/IVAN ALVARADO Chile's assembly holds first session to draft a new constitution

The constitutional body is made up of 155 delegates, including 17 indigenous candidates, equally split between men and women, and was picked by a popular vote in May.

It is dominated by independent and leftist candidates, some with roots in the protest movement, with a smaller share of more conservative candidates backed by the current centre-right government.

Vale Miranda, at 20 the youngest constitutional delegate, wrote on Twitter that she and other delegates sought to stop heavy-handed security forces blocking protesters from marching.

© Reuters/PABLO SANHUEZA Chile's assembly holds first session to draft a new constitution

"Now they are hitting us and they just split my lip!" she said. "Let the whole world know that there is no democracy in Chile."


Marcela Cubillos, a candidate representing the government coalition, said the impasse was "a bad sign."

"Today should be the day that our important work starts, to comply with the mandate given to us by Chileans," she said.

Chileans voted overwhelmingly to tear up the current constitution drafted during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in a referendum last year.

The delegates have vowed to address topics including water and property rights, central bank independence and labour practices, prompting jitters among investors of potentially significant changes to the free market system of the world's top copper producer.

Before the ceremony began, Aymara and Mapuche delegates held spiritual ceremonies with song and dance in the downtown streets surrounding the body's new headquarters and on a nearby hillside.

Unrecognised in the current constitution, they are hoping a new text will afford their nations new cultural, political and social rights.

"We walk with our people and our history to open the gates they put before us," said Elisa Loncon, a Mapuche delegate and university professor who is seen as a candidate for presidency of the body.

MUTED GOVERNMENT

The government of centre-right President Sebastian Pinera stayed quiet as the events unfolded.

His coalition failed to secure the necessary one third of seats on the body to ward off drastic changes.

The inauguration is not the first sign of tensions in the process. Last month, when Pinera sought to remind delegates of the need not to overstep their remit, he was slapped down by some delegates who said they would set their own rules.

In recent weeks, there have been angry denunciations of government by delegates over budgets, COVID-19 rules around gathering size and who would preside over the ceremony.

The commission has up to a year to agree a common rulebook, establish committees and draft a new text.

Leandro Lima, a Southern Cone analyst for Control Risks, said the independents brought "legitimacy" to the process given Chileans' deep mistrust in established politics but a paucity of policymaking experience and deep ideological divisions could cause critical delays to the drafting of the text itself.

(Reporting by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Marguerita Choy)