Steelworkers reach tentative deal with IOC

Striking steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement with the Iron Ore Company of Canada.

"Brothers and sisters your negotiating committee has negotiated a tentative agreement with a full recommendation from all three locals," reads a statement on United Steelworkers Local 5795's Facebook page posted around 6:20 on Friday evening.

The statement says there will be a membership meeting at the Labrador City Arena at noon on Saturday.

About 1,300 workers have been on strike in Labrador City since late March, from locals 5795, 6731 and 9344.

Details of the tentative agreement were not available. Earlier this week, Mike Furlong, a power engineer at IOC and a member of the union executive, said most people weren't "overly optimistic" about a new offer that was in the works.

Furlong said the contract dispute was not over wages, but over quality of life factors, with the union focusing on three main areas: health benefits, pensions and temporary workers.

Furlong said the union asked IOC to drop a cap on pharmaceuticals in health coverage, a limit he said that could cause huge expenses for workers and create an unsafe distraction in an industrial work environment.

"How do you keep your mind on your job when you're worried about 'Am I going to have enough for my MS medication? Am I going to have enough money for the kids' medication?'" he told CBC earlier this week.

Details of agreement not available

Neither side said much about the tentative agreement Friday evening.

Local 5795 president Ron Thomas said he couldn't provide details until after the deal had been presented to members.

"Tentatively, we have a vote planned for Monday, from 8 to 5, but that could change. It depends on what happens at this meeting tomorrow."

Thomas said there were a few contentious issues, but union leadership feels they "got something that's fair" to bring to the union membership.

We're pretty well a one-industry town up here, and nobody wins at a strike.- Ron Thomas

"I guess we'll find out after tomorrow's meeting," he said.

Thomas acknowledged the strike had been taking its toll on workers, and Labrador City as a whole.

"We're pretty well a one-industry town up here, and nobody wins at a strike," he said. "But we feel that we were forced there from the beginning and at the end of the day, hopefully this will work out and we can all get back to work and start doing what we do best, which is producing."

A statement from IOC owner Rio Tinto said, "The tentative agreement provides competitive terms and conditions for employees, while allowing IOC to be a sustainable and competitive business."