Talks between union workers and Vale are scheduled to resume Wednesday, two days before a report on the labour dispute was scheduled to be publicly released.
On it’s website, devoted to the strike, Vale announced representatives from the company and the union will meet in Happy Valley-Goose Bay Wednesday.
On Dec. 23, the government received the first report from an industrial inquiry set up to examine the labour dispute.
Copies of the Phase 1 report were given to Vale and the United Steelworkers Local 9508, and Joan Burke, acting human resources, labour and employment minister, asked for a media blackout until the report is released Friday.
When contacted by The Telegram, Vale spokesman Bob Carter and inquiry commissioner John Roil declined to comment, citing the media blackout.
No one from the United Steelworkers could be reached.
The Voisey’s Bay strike has dragged on for 17 months. Vale has brought in replacement workers to operate the mine.
When the industrial inquiry was set up by then-premier Danny Williams, he said the process could prove embarrassing to both sides.
The report given to Burke on Dec. 23 answers two of the seven issues outlined in the inquiry terms of reference.
It looks at the bargaining positions of the union and the company, and looks at options to resolve the settlement.
A second report, scheduled to be finished for Feb. 25, will look at factors around the labour climate, outside factors influencing the dispute, impacts on other labour relationships, the costs of the labour dispute to the province and any other matters the commissioner feels are relevant.
The Telegram
