2 haul trucks drive over other vehicles at IOC, union blames 'worker fatigue'

The union representing workers at the mine in Labrador City has confirmed two accidents in the past eight weeks, both involving huge trucks driving over other vehicles.

• IOC denies forcing employees to work overtime, says company's credibility at stake
• Another blow for Labrador as IOC delays Wabush 3 project

No one was hurt, but the Iron Ore Company of Canada said in a memo Tuesday that the accidents were "potentially fatal" and it is using the "safety shortfall" as one of the reasons for another delay in the planned Wabush 3 expansion.

Our oil trucks are about the size of houses so the driver wouldn't even know they did run over a pickup truck.- Ron Thomas

The United Steelworkers union told CBC News the accidents were a result of "worker fatigue" and said an agreement to hire more temporary workers should reduce the level of burnout among staff.

"We had a couple near misses in the last couple months, close calls, and I blame it basically on our members being forced to work extra hours," said Ron Thomas, president of union local 5795.

"We had a haul truck run over a pickup, and our haul trucks are about the size of houses so the driver wouldn't even know they did run over a pickup truck. I mean, they were shook up. We also had a haul truck run over a loader and that was a close call as well," Thomas said.

In both cases, he said the driver had been working extra hours.

Agreement to hire temporary help

Thomas said 150 union members left IOC in 2015 — some retired, while others quit or were laid off. He said they have not been replaced, so remaining staff have had to work extra hours.

"We've been forced to work seven shifts in a row. That's been started now for the last few years, and what the company's been doing, they've been scheduling extra shifts … so I'm guessing a lot of it is probably burnout."

While Thomas said the union and the company have had a "poor relationship" with more than 3,000 grievances currently on file, he is hopeful after a recent meeting.

"We came to an agreement on hiring temporary workers so we hope those temporary workers are going to come in and alleviate some of that pain," he said.

"It's only a six-month trial basis, but we're hoping it's going to get the bodies in that need to be there so our members won't have to work the extra hours."

'No one wants to be just lucky'

In the memo to staff, IOC president Kelly Sanders said the company has to improve its safety practices and produce more ore before the Wabush 3 expansion can go ahead.

"Luckily employees have not been injured and we are able to learn from the incident rather than deal with tragedy. However, no one wants to be just lucky," Sanders wrote.

"IOC has good systems and our employees are highly capable professionals. When it comes to safety we have failed to demonstrate this capability; it is critical to refocus and get back on track."

The company also needs to increase its production, he said, with the goal of producing 23 million tonnes of ore per year.

"We'd like to see them succeed. We'd like to see them get the tonnage they want and we're going to work with them whatever way possible to see if we can get that done," said Thomas, who says shareholders are pressuring the company for a return on a $2.2 billion investment made prior to 2013.

"It's too bad we're the ones to take the hit for it." he said. "IOC still has a lot of working pits ... I think Wabush 3 will eventually open but right now we still have enough ore in the pits to keep us going."