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Hudbay unions are crying foul over contractors and an employee aptitude test, but the company insists its policies are nothing out of the ordinary. Flin Flon's largest employer stands accused of violating its union contracts by hiring contractors for jobs that could be filled by employees. 'Contracting out at Hudbay has reached unacceptable levels,' said Rene Beauchamp, president of the machinists' union. 'There are contractors filling multiple union positions within Flin Flon, Snow Lake and (the) Reed (mine). This obsession Hudbay has with contractors is affecting the local population and tax base. Instead of keeping the money and the jobs here, it's leaving our communities on conveyor belts. There will be no future for our kids and this will affect the decent standard of living we have come to enjoy.' Tom Davie, president of United Steelworkers Local 7106, Hudbay's largest union, concurs. 'The contractors get treated better than Hudbay's own employees, and that's unacceptable to us,' said Davie. 'We can't tolerate that anymore, and the membership has told us that.' A grievance has been filed over the contractor issue, Davie said, but due to the slow nature of the process it will take a year for the matter to be settled. See 'Hudbay' on pg. Continued from pg. Davie said the Reed mine, between Snow Lake and Flin Flon, now has four crews of 16 contractors each. He said those contractors were transferred from 777 mine, so members of his union did not have an opportunity to apply for those jobs. Roughly another 90 contractors, according to Hudbay, are at the Lalor mine near Snow Lake. Budgetary issues have seen the removal of contractors from the 777 mine, Davie said. But Beauchamp said a lot of trades jobs at the Flin Flon plant are going to contractors. Matt Winterton, recording secretary for United Steelworkers Local 7106, said there are surface employees who wish to transfer to underground jobs but cannot because those positions are going to contractors. Brad Lantz, vice-president of Hudbay's Manitoba operations, said the company has done nothing wrong. 'Hudbay monitors the manning requirements in each department and the number of contractors on site each month,' said Lantz. 'Before any work is contracted out, a determination is made to see if it can be done internally with existing resources and skill sets.' The number of contractors used, Lantz said, varies from month to month and their work 'is predominantly project work or specialty work.' Lantz said Hudbay has agreed to consult with the unions whenever work is contracted out. 'Each month, all contracted work is reviewed with union representatives,' said Lantz, adding that the overall number of contractors used in 2013 is lower than that of previous years. Lalor employees While there are about 90 contractors at Lalor, which has yet to reach full production, Lantz noted that Hudbay employs 130 people at the mine site and another 53 at Snow Lake's concentrator. Lalor contractors are performing surface construction, shaft sinking and underground development and construction, Lantz said. Davie acknowledged that contractors are required for certain jobs and in temporary situations where employees need to be trained to do the work. 'But they have to give us the opportunity for the preferred jobs and they're not,' said Davie. 'They're giving the preferred jobs (and) brand new equipment to the contractors where we work with 60-year-old pieces of junk.' United Steelworkers argues that Hudbay is short-staffed underground because its hiring policy moves slowly and eliminates many worthy candidates who fail the company's entry-level aptitude test. Introduced in the mid-2000s, the aptitude test measures high school-level literacy and numeracy skills. In order to be considered for employment at Hudbay, applicants must pass the test. Davie questioned the practical value of the test, saying workers are trained onsite for their jobs and those hired in the past did not write it. 'We know that there are individuals that could thrive at Hudbay, but they're not given the chance if they flunk the test,' Davie said. 'There are individuals that have worked in the community for a long time and want to hire and have great references, but can't pass the test. Hudbay is missing out and so is our membership.' See 'Just' on pg. Continued from pg. Of 35 applicants who wrote the test earlier this summer, Davie said, just four passed. And Davie said applicants who do pass, if they are subsequently hired, are likely waiting three months before starting their jobs. Davie is calling on Hudbay to use the test as a hiring guideline, not a strict requirement for employment. But Lantz said the test, developed in conjunction with the Manitoba government, ensures applicants have 'the essential skills required to perform the jobs at Hudbay.' 'Only entry-level employees are required to write the test,' Lantz said. 'Hudbay has set up a process through Workplace Education Manitoba to assist potential candidates prepare for the evaluation. The evaluation process has had no impact on the number of contractors.' Baffled Davie said he is baffled as to why Hudbay would be 'making it so hard for people to hire on' _ unless, that is, 'they're looking at busting the union.' 'I don't think they're trying to bust us,' Davie added. 'But they're definitely not allowing us to grow. And they're not allowing our communities to grow.' For his part, Winterton believes the situation should make the public curious. 'I think what the community should be asking is, what is Hudbay's intention for the community?' Winterton said. 'People need to be talking and thinking about what is going to happen in our community.' In terms of the unions' plan to deal with its concerns, Davie referred to membership meetings held last week. 'It was brought up that we need to take a look at what we're doing on a day to day basis,' Davie said, 'to try to come up with a plan to put pressure on Hudbay to fix these major issues before the next round of bargaining.' Asked what that would include, Davie replied: 'I can't say, unfortunately.' In an unrelated concern, Winterton said that at least three spouses of Hudbay workers have had, or been informed they will have, their company spousal benefits cut off. The reason, Winterton said, is that there were rumours the couples had legally separated when in fact they had not. To this statement Lantz said: 'There is a process in place to address benefit coverage issues.'
