January 7, 2011 - Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

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Protecting the Labour Rights of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in a Globalized World losses were largely a result of the worst economic crisis since the Great Decession of the 1930s and the lack of an industrial strategy for Canada. Workers and their unions have been on the defensive just as corporations in Canada (especially in the resource sector) are being bought up by multinational corporations - totally changing the power dynamics at the collective bargaining table. It has been apparent to the labour movement in Canada and in our province that Vale is a corporation set on changing industrial relations and the role unions play in the workplace. And they are getting away with it – unless recommendations from an Inquiry such as this one attempt to right the imbalance. Obviously, this is about more than changing the relationship with its Canadians workers. This is about Vale sending a message to its global workforce, many of whom work in countries with fewer labour rights than Canada. After all, if Vale can beat back its Canadian workers, won’t that serve to temper the expectations of workers in other parts of the world? In July 2010, following the resolution of the Sudbury strike, Tito Martins, the President of CEO of Vale, in a Brazilian newspaper (a translated copy of the article was obtained by the Federation) assessed that the company had achieved everything it wanted from its confrontation with its workers in Canada. Concessions including attacking the workers’ defined benefit pension plan and a reduction in the nickel bonus formula that had been negotiated with INCO – the former owner of both Voisey’s Bay and Sudbury – were seen as victories by the employer. But for Vale the real win was changing the fundamental role of the union in the workplace. The Valor newspaper article (July 13, 2010) noted that for Mr. Martins, the real issue “was indeed a struggle for power.” The Vale CEO noted that the new agreement with Sudbury was about limiting the power of the union in the relationship between employer and employee. In other words, the company felt it was successful in eroding the democratic rights of employees in the workplace. Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour Page 7
Protecting the Labour Rights of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in a Globalized World According to the translated newspaper article, Mr. Martins reportedly said "the interference of the union in managing the company has been reduced. Formerly, any grievance against the company was taken directly to the union, rather than to the supervisor or manager….Breaking this paradigm was what led Vale to go for a confrontation with workers that lasted so long.” The question for all of us in examining the Voisey’s Bay dispute is to consider how as a society we protect the labour and human rights of citizens when faced with such overwhelming corporate power. How do we protect the rights of 200 workers, most of whom live in remote northern communities and work in an even more isolated and for the most part inaccessible workplace, against the very real power and wealth of their employer. How do we ensure a fair and level playing field and how do we correct the grossly lop-sided imbalance in power between workers and their multinational employers at the collective bargaining table? Vale is the second largest mining corporation on the planet with well over 150,000 employees working on nearly every Continent and with profits exceeding $10 billion in the first nine months of 2010. Our Federation believes this Inquiry has an incredible opportunity to put industrial relations back on the right track in our province and in doing so protect the labour rights of the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador. We must ensure the actions of Vale are not replicated by others emboldened by their union-busting tactics for this will surely result in more labour unrest in Newfoundland and Labrador. We must instead collectively – labour, government and employers - work to restore and indeed build a strong and mature labour relations climate that respects the principles of labour relations as laid out in the Preamble to Canada’s Labour Code: WHEREAS there is a long tradition in Canada of labour legislation and policy designed for the promotion of the common well-being through the encouragement of free collective bargaining and the constructive settlement of disputes; AND WHEREAS Canadian workers, trade unions and employers recognize and support freedom of association and free collective bargaining as the bases of effective industrial relations for the determination of good working conditions and sound labourmanagement relations; Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour Page 8
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January 7, 2011 - Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

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