Vale, union head back to bargaining table

Mining giant Vale and striking workers in Labrador are heading back to the bargaining table, just as a potentially embarrassing report is about to be made public.

Workers at the Voisey's Bay nickel mine in northern Labrador have been on strike since August 2009, in a dispute that prompted the Newfoundland and Labrador government to call an industrial inquiry on why the dispute has not been resolved.

In a statement on its website, Vale Newfoundland and Labrador said it asked the United Steelworkers union to a meeting after receiving a copy of the industrial inquiry's preliminary report.

The two sides will meet Wednesday in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Vale's statement said.

The meeting comes two days before the Newfoundland and Labrador government is scheduled to release the preliminary findings of an industrial inquiry struck in October.

Former premier Danny Williams said last fall that the industrial inquiry could help bring an end to the strike because of potentially embarrassing details it might unearth about the bargaining demands of either side.

Neither Vale nor the union is commenting on the contents of the industrial inquiry report.

Vale has been able to maintain production at its nickel mine at Voisey's Bay, largely through replacement workers. While the union's focus at the start of the strike had been on wages and benefits, it has shifted to calls for provincial legislation to prohibit replacement workers.

Talks to resolve the strike have involved a mediator, although they collapsed in October with each side blaming the other.