Voisey's Bay strikers not voting on offer
Labrador mine workers changed their minds after they learned it's not a final offer
Striking Voisey's Bay nickel mineworkers won't be voting on mine owner's latest offer.
United Steel Workers union negotiator Boyd Bussey is in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, central Labrador, briefing the strikers on the company's offer.
"Some of the members wanted to have a vote, but when we brought it back to them and explained to them it wasn't a final offer they made a decision not to vote on it," Bussey said.
The strike began 14 months ago.
About 200 employees at Voisey's Bay Nickel have been on picket lines since August 2009 in a dispute centring on wages and benefits.
About half the original strikers have gone to work elsewhere but the union expects many will come back once the strike is settled.
Talks between the company and workers broke off this week amid revelations that Vale has obtained a $1-billion line of credit from the Export Development Corp., a federal Crown corporation.
The Brazilian mining giant intends to use $250 million of the line of credit to build a high-tech processing plant in southern Newfoundland, which is being built as part of the development agreement on the Voisey's Bay nickel mine in northern Labrador.