A small but resolute group of uranium-mine workers are picketing outside Flin Flon limits after being locked out by their employer.
Cameco’s temporary closure of its McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill in northern Saskatchewan impacts five workers who live in the Flin Flon region.
Last week those workers set up a picket at the Flin Flon Municipal Airport, where they would normally be catching a flight to the remote mine site.
“Their first offer it wasn’t very fair at all,” said Anthony Maniel, one of the picketers. “They were trying to take away from us, and then they came up with a second [offer] and that one was alright, but not good enough.”
Maniel, a box hole driller at McArthur River mine, said the two sides differ on pension and site allowance payments.
A fellow picketer, electrician Bruce Barabonoff, said a better understanding of the collective bargaining agreement is also key.
Voted
Last month, members of United Steelworkers Local 8914 – which represents 535 workers at the mine and mill – voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike to back up their contractual goals.
On Aug. 30, with a new deal still unrealized, Cameco shut down production at the facilities.
Cameco, one of the world’s largest uranium producers, has defended its final offer to workers as both fair and competitive.
Maniel, who has been at the mine for six years, said people at the airport have been showing their support for the picketers.
The mine and mill employees had been working under the terms of a contract that expired on Dec. 31, 2013.
While only a handful of local people work at McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill, Barabonoff said likely 35 to 40 people fly out of Flin Flon to work at other Cameco operations.
Maniel expects that number to grow as Cameco looks for additional workers.
