Heat raised on Voisey's Bay talks

The Newfoundland and Labrador government increased the pressure Tuesday evening on both sides in the long-running strike at the Voisey's Bay nickel mine.

On the eve of the resumption of talks, the government announced a three-person industrial inquiry is set to begin work on Friday, should talks fail to reach a deal by then.

Brazilian mining giant Vale, which owns Voisey's Bay Nickel, and the United Steelworkers union are poised to resume talks on Wednesday in St. John's.

Government announced that lawyer John Roil, who has handled numerous government inquiries and investigations over the years, will chair the commission. Roil is joined by Randy Earle, a high-profile labour lawyer, and Brian Gatien, a lawyer who has worked in both Sudbury, Ont., and St. John's, and who has significant experience with labour issues.

"Our government has gone to great lengths over the last 15 months to work with the parties and help them bring an end to this dispute. Despite our actions, the parties have been unable to reach a settlement even with the conciliation support from the Labour Relations Agency and the assistance of an independent mediator," Human Resources Minister Susan Sullivan said in a statement.

About 200 workers at the Voisey's Bay mine have been off the job since August 2009 in a dispute that originally was focused on wages and benefits.

Numerous attempts to resolve the strike, though, have failed, including recent ones that involved a conciliator brought in by the provincial government. Despite the strike, Vale has managed to keep the mine in production.

Premier Danny Williams set the deadline of this Friday for both sides almost two weeks ago, saying that an industrial inquiry would be called if a deal could not be achieved.

The inquiry would not be able to compel a settlement to the strike, but Williams has acknowledged that its investigations could prove embarrassing to either side, or both. The inquiry would have two months to produce a report.