【Ferro-alloys.com】The Brazilian mining giant Vale (VALE.US)’s nickel mine in Sudbury, Canada has been shut down for two weeks. Earlier, due to the breakdown of labor-management negotiations, local workers protested in the form of strikes, causing Vale to be forced to suspend nickel mining. . However, in the latest negotiation, Vale's conditions still cannot satisfy the workers, and it is still unknown when the local nickel mine will resume operations.

Vale's nickel mine in Sudbury has a total of 2,500 workers. They went on strike on June 1 because the company plans to cut minimum wage increases and also wants to reduce the benefits of retired employees.

The strikers are represented by the United Steelworkers Union. The local union voted against Vale’s latest proposal with an 87% majority. The union said that this time’s proposal is not much different from the last time, and it only does. For minor improvements, Vale should negotiate in good faith so that the strike issue can be resolved.

Local labor union chairman Nick Larochelle said that the work of mining nickel mines exposes workers to toxic and dangerous substances. Many workers suffer serious health damage after retirement. In order to compensate for the damage caused by work, Vale should repay employees and ensure that they Can get the benefits needed to stay healthy.

In this regard, Vale Canada stated that it was disappointed by the union members’ rejection of the second proposal, and they insisted that they had shown sufficient sincerity.

It is reported that Vale’s second plan will still cancel the existing health and medical benefit plans for retirees, but the company proposes to provide retirees with a medical savings account of $1,000 in the new plan.

Sudbury, located in Ontario, is the most important mining city in Canada. It is not only the largest copper-producing area in Canada, but also the largest nickel-producing area in the world. Data show that the output of Vale's nickel mine in Sudbury in 2020 reached 43,200 tons, accounting for nearly half of the company's total nickel output in Canada.

Since Tesla adopted high nickel and low cobalt as the future direction of battery development last year, the market's attention to nickel has increased significantly. After Musk announced the high nickel battery plan, Tesla immediately negotiated with Vale. Vale said that Tesla and other car companies need to have enough nickel to produce electric car batteries in the next 5 to 8 years. 

• [Editor:zhaozihao]