It’s as high-stakes a game as has been played in Flin Flon in decades.
On one side are the nearly 200 tradespeople of IAM Local 1848, equipped with a strike mandate and dissatisfied with Hudbay’s final contract offer.
On the other side are Hudbay negotiators, defending their offer as fair, generous and mindful of the company’s future.
Unfortunately, things are at the point now where the two sides can’t even concur on what has been offered, never mind agreeing on the actual terms of an offer.
Looking on with bated breath is pretty much everyone else in Flin Flon and area.
There are a lot of big questions out there, the most obvious being this: Will we see a partial strike at Hudbay, the first work stoppage at the former HBM&S since 1971?
Certainly on Monday night that appeared likely. To many people’s surprise (and relief), IAM announced after rejecting Hudbay’s final offer that it would refrain from striking, at least for now, in hopes of securing a better offer.
But would a better offer be forthcoming? Hudbay didn’t give that impression, at least publicly, using the term “final” to describe its offer and the term “expired” to describe what happened to that offer as of midnight on Monday.
Fortunately we have since learned that a concilliator will return to Flin Flon on Monday with IAM and Hudbay penciled in for what could be a make-or-break meeting.
“Our one and only objective is to get our outstanding issues addressed and bargain a deal that we can recommend to our membership,” IAM said on its website.
Hudbay, too, has stressed its desire for a deal that makes sense for both sides.
Different ideas
Trouble is, the two sides have vastly different ideas about what constitutes a fair agreement.
The wild cards here may be the other Hudbay unions and how they feel about the company’s offer and the prospect of a strike.
A scenario in which one union strikes while the others continue to negotiate would put an awful lot of people in an awkward position – a position, we can all hope, will be averted by further talks.
Those of us in journalism have a reputation for being drawn to controversy and conflict, and there’s nothing more controversial or conflict-ridden than the worst-case scenarios that could stem from the IAM-Hudbay impasse.
But I can tell you that neither myself, nor (I’m sure) anyone else in the Flin Flon media, is getting a thrill out of watching this process play out.
We live here, too. We have invested in this community. And we have friends and acquaintances at Hudbay.
Looking ahead at where we go from here, I know the only headline I look forward to writing is this: “Workers, Hudbay pleased with new deal.”
And if I were to add a subheading below that, it would be this: “Community ready to move forward with optimism.”
•••
I would like to thank the family of the late Raylene Dawn Grant for inviting me to cover a brief but touching memorial ceremony for Raylene last Sunday at Hillside Cemetery.
I did not know Raylene, who was tragically murdered in Flin Flon in 2011, but the portrait people have painted is of a young woman bursting with compassion, humour and dedication.
I don’t have all of the answers on how, but I do know that society must do everything it can to avoid a repeat of this senselessness – in Flin Flon and everywhere else.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
