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Jonathon Naylor Editor A Hudbay trades union is threatening a strike vote ahead of further negotiations, but the company disputes the workers' contractual right to walk off the job. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 1848, which represents 176 tradespeople, believes it has the authority and the membership support to strike if necessary. 'If conciliation doesn't work and we don't start bargaining in good faithÉthen a strike vote is on the table,' IAM president Rene Beauchamp said Monday. IAM is the only local union at Hudbay that has yet to agree to a new contract beyond Dec. 31, 2011. In its view, IAM gained the right to strike as of July 1, 2012. But Brad Lantz, vice-president of HudBay's Manitoba business unit, said the company's position is that none of the local unions can strike for another two and a half years. 'Under the existing amending agreement, the unions are in a no-strike position and Hudbay is in a no-lockout position,' he said. 'This will remain in effect until the end of 2014, at which time the amending agreement will come to an end.' See 'Chief...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 Beauchamp blamed Hudbay for a standstill in negotiations, resulting in a meeting with a conciliator scheduled for next month. IAM's chief concern, he said, is Hudbay's desire to commit its mechanical apprentices to the company for eight years and pipefitters for 10 years. Under those terms, Beauchamp said, an apprentice who quits before his commitment is up would have to refund Hudbay the money it spent sending him to school. He said IAM opposes committing apprentices for any period of time and sees the proposal as Hudbay's way of staffing the Lalor Mine near Snow Lake with apprentices. 'Apprentices want their ticket, right? So it will be easy to man it up because people want apprenticeships,' Beauchamp said. 'But it's not easy to man up for tradesmen because they can't get a tradesman there now.' Immobilize Beauchamp said a strike by IAM members, whom he believes would vote in favour of such action, would immobilize Hudbay's Manitoba operations. 'If 176 tradesmen are on strike, this company would be shut down within hours without the help of any other union,' he said. Beauchamp said a strike might make Hudbay 'realize that (IAM is) here because right now they don't believe we're here.' 'They don't treat us like a union here. They treat us like we don't exist,' he said. 'We've got grievances waiting probably six, eight months. It's a company that's just slapping our face every time we turn around.' But Lantz denied Hudbay is responsible for the unsuccessful talks between the two sides. 'We are always open to constructive discussion, though at some point the arbitration process has to happen if both parties are unable to reach an agreement,' he said. Lantz said arbitration is the tool available to unions not under contract in the event of failed negotiations. 'The language within the amending agreement allows for an arbitrator to be appointed and both sides to present their supporting documentation in support of their position,' he said. 'The process is well-defined: if a bargained agreement cannot be reached, you go to arbitration. We have gone this route in the past, in 2000 and 2006, whereby the agreement terms were finalized by the arbitrator.' As for staffing the Lalor Mine, Lantz said there is a general shortage of skilled labour and tradespeople across Western Canada. 'We have had success in the past with the apprenticeship programs at Hudbay and we plan to continue to support these programs,' he said. 'We are committed to training and education programs to help fulfill the employment needs today and in the future as we continue to develop new properties.' Whether IAM's concerns over apprenticeship commitments will lead to a successful strike vote, and what action Hudbay might then take in response, remains unclear. If a strike does occur, Beauchamp said he is not worried about causing friction with the other unions. 'They have a collective agreement and they obviously must be happy with what they signed,' he said, adding that any additional benefits secured by IAM would contractually favour other unions. While the apprenticeship proposal is the biggest thorn in the side of IAM, the union also has secondary concerns with what Hudbay is offering. Already agreed Other Hudbay unions have already agreed to raises of three per cent a year for three years. IAM too agrees with three per cent but also wants all of its members to climb eight increments up the wage scale. So far, Beauchamp said, IAM has been offered an increase of six increments, and only for certified workers. Each increment is worth roughly 40 cents an hour. And Beauchamp said a premium of $2.50 an hour, paid to employees in Snow Lake as long as they don't live in company-funded housing, should go to all workers, regardless of where they reside. He also wants the premium paid in such a way that senior employees are not shortchanged given that they have more holidays and will thus spend less time in Snow Lake than newer workers. 'It would be nice if they paid it fairly across the board to all our members. I mean, we're not here to divide and split our union up,' said Beauchamp. Lantz said the Snow Lake premium has already come into effect with all but one union having signed the new collective bargaining agreement. 'The premium was to address the higher costs of living in a smaller community, and to attract and encourage people to move to Snow Lake,' he said. But in Beauchamp's view, Hudbay won't have success in recruiting tradespeople to Snow Lake until wages rise. '(Hudbay) cannot get tradespeople to work in Snow Lake, Manitoba, for $32 an hour when they (make) $40, $45 an hour in Alberta or the oil patch,' he said, adding that he sees $40 as a starting wage for tradespeople at other companies. Beauchamp said there is no indication when the standstill in negotiations will be resolved. Conciliation is scheduled for Aug. 21 in an attempt to get both sides to restart talks. If that fails, IAM and Hudbay clearly have different views about the next available steps.
