Members of Hudbay’s largest union will vote next week on whether to place the possibility of a strike on the table.
United Steelworkers Local 7106 will hold a strike mandate vote in Flin Flon on Tuesday, May 19 and in Snow Lake on Wednesday, May 20.
Several members of the union, known by the abbreviation USW, told The Reminder they expect the vote to carry.
“I think they will vote for it given the fact it will [give] the union an extra card to play against the company,” said one member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
USW’s approximately 650 members would not necessarily go on strike if the vote carries, but they would gain the ability to do so if they reject Hudbay’s final offer.
In information disseminated to members, USW called a strike mandate vote “a crucial tool for successful bargaining” as “an affirmative vote puts the right to call a strike (or other job action) in the hands of the elected bargaining committee.”
A strike mandate vote also “sends a clear message to the Employer that the members stand behind the bargaining committee and the proposals that the Union put forward.”
While some unions require more than a simple majority for a strike vote to carry, USW’s benchmark is 50 per cent plus one.
Talks
USW and Hudbay are scheduled to enter another round of concilliation at the end of the month.
In a recent interview, USW president Tom Davie said talks did not move very far forward when the two sides met for concilliation in April.
Davie said Hudbay employees deserve more from the company after signing the so-called 2012 agreement.
That deal, concluded in the 1990s when the company was owned by Anglo American plc, barred strikes and lockouts until 2015 (some Hudbay union members have argued the true date was 2012).
Davie said the Steelworkers began bargaining last November and have presented Hudbay with their entire proposal.
USW represents 45 per cent of Hudbay’s northern Manitoba workforce.
