9 November 2009
Members of Unite the union will today (Monday 9th), mount a picket
outside a Deutsche Bank metals conference in the City of London.
The protest organized by the global union Workers Uniting is in
support of striking mineworkers from Vale Inco in Canada.
Two strikers, members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union,
will join the picket to press the case to investors attending the
Deutsche Bank meeting where Vale executives are making a
presentation. The protest is the first of many actions to be
organised by Workers Uniting that will confront Vale investors
during the dispute.
Vale workers in Canada are on indefinite strike to defend their
pay and conditions. Vale wants to impose drastic cuts to pensions
and other benefits of the Canadian miners. The workers see it as
the thin end of the wedge as they believe the company want to push
wages and conditions down to the level of their operations in
Brazil.
Unite Joint General Secretary, Derek Simpson said, “Vale Inco
are a greedy multinational backed by Wall Street cash. Their
mining operation in Canada is hugely profitable, yet they are
putting the squeeze on our brothers and sisters in Workers Uniting
to satisfy the insatiable appetite of the financial institutions
that gave us the credit crunch.
“The message we are here to deliver to would be investors is
that Vale Inco aren’t only fighting their workforce they are
fighting the global union too.”
USW International President Leo W. Gerard: “Mining natural
resources has been a profitable enterprise for generations in
Sudbury, Canada for both the company and the workers. For a
multinational company to now attempt to slash living standards
while enjoying sky-rocketing profits is totally unacceptable.
"Workers in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States and around
the world understand this, and the workers’ solidarity and actions
send a powerful message.”
Ken Neumann, USW National Director for Canada: “Vale’s backward,
outdated approach to labour relations also is bad for investors.
Vale’s own reports indicate the Canadian labour dispute that it
provoked is costing the company $7 million (US dollars) in lost
production each day. We are standing together as Workers Uniting in
saying it’s time for Vale to get back to the bargaining table and
make a fair offer that benefits shareholders, workers and their
communities.”
The picket will begin at 7.30am at Deutsche Bank, Winchester House,
1 Great Winchester Street, London EC2N 2DB.
- Ends -
Further details please contact:
Richard O’Brien, London: +447768 931 320
Saba Mozakka, London: +447768 693 953
Bob Gallagher, Canada: (416) 544 5966
- Notes to Editors -
Workers Uniting is the world’s first global union formed of
Unite the Union in the UK and Ireland and the USW in the USA and
Canada.
For more information on the global union or the Vale Inco
dispute go to www.workersuniting.org
For more information on the Vale Inco strike campaign please
visit: www.fairdealnow.ca