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This a reply letter by the United Steelworkers in reply to Vale’s letter published in the March 17th Sudbury Star. www.fairdealnow.ca

In the latest “open letter” published by Vale Inco, this foreign corporation again demonstrates its contempt for our community and for Canada’s democratic traditions and labour relations culture. But most of all, Vale demonstrates a shocking disrespect for its employees.

Indeed, the most disturbing aspect of Vale’s latest public attacks may well be its blatant disregard for the independence, intellect, and judgment of thousands of its workers.

As you know, striking Vale employees in Sudbury and Port Colborne recently voted 90 per cent against the company’s last contract offer. After eight months on the picket lines, the vote was even more emphatic than an earlier contract rejection at the strike’s onset in July 2009.

To a reasonable, objective observer, such an unequivocal result would suggest serious shortcomings with Vale’s contract offer. It would suggest that a company that purports to care for its employees would want to address these issues in the democratic Canadian way – at the bargaining table with the employees’ legally-sanctioned and democratically-elected representatives.

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www.valeinconegotiations.com

Labour disputes, like the ones affecting two-thirds of our Canadian operations, generate a lot of questions from a lot of different perspectives. We have a question of our own – does anyone really believe that Canada and Canadians are so intolerant that race and heritage are suitable excuses for ridicule and recrimination?

This is the Canada the USW leadership would have you believe we live in, as it sets about looking for anyone and anything to blame for strikes that have kept our employees off the job for more than eight months in Ontario and more than seven months in Newfoundland and Labrador.

It’s a regrettable tactic. It’s also a deflection that conveniently allows them to ignore the real issues at dispute.

We have shared our objectives with the USW leadership from the very beginning – to build a long-term, sustainable future for our Canadian operations. It seems straightforward – even worthy of support. In the rush to further their own objectives, however, the USW describes it as “an assault on Canada” – questioning our commitment, our values and our “Third World” ethnicity every step of the way.

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Dick DeStefano is the Executive Director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Services Association (SAMSSA)
www.samssa.ca  destefan@isys.ca

December 10, 2009 was a special day for me.   Working with a small and determined group of invisible mining supply companies in the early stages of 2003 has now evolved into a viable, dynamic community of entrepreneurs making a difference in Northern Ontario and throughout the world.

Twenty centimetres of driving snow and frigid conditions did not prevent more than 90 SAMSSA members and guests from attending the SAMSSA annual meeting in Sudbury.

We all applauded our two SAMSSA Hall of Fame inductees, Peter Matusch and Ron Miller, both of whom were introduced by their sons.  We congratulated our slate of new board members and thanked those who retired.

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David Robinson is an Economist at Sudbury’s Laurentian University drobinson@laurentian.ca

Outer space has more than its share of miners and no mining suppliers. I wonder how they do it.

You may not have noticed, but the highest grossing movie in history was a mining movie. Technical support for the industry was provided by the military. The mining industry lost. The supply industry didn’t even show. The movie was Avatar.

Sci-fi fans know that one of the main activities in outer space is mining. There are stories about asteroid mining, lunar mining, mining on Mars and on planets half a galaxy away. Mining provides a reason to be in space. Mining supplies everything you need to live in space.

Mining supplies water, precious metals, helium 3 for energy and exotic jewels to drive the most unlikely plots. Mining technology is used to blow up asteroids headed for Earth. There are claim jumpers in space and whole underdeveloped worlds run by cruel mining companies. Mining in space is something the sci-fi writers take seriously. Read the rest of this entry »

Xavier Kataquapit grew up in Attawapiskat First Nation on the James Bay Coast. Readers are invited to visit his website: www.underthenorthernsky.com.

As a First Nation person from the James Bay Coast, I was raised to respect the land and all the creatures that live on Mother Earth.

There are a lot of reasons that my people, the Cree of the James Bay Coast, believe in this philosophy but it mainly has to do with survival.

We knew and we still know that if we over hunt, over fish or abuse the land, it comes back to haunt us. When you live off the land very directly, it is natural and easy to feel the connection to everything. Our Elders tell us we must be conscious of how we affect the land.

There are many legends having to do with bad things happening to those who are not considerate of the land. For the past few years, I have witnessed a lot of resource development on Native lands in the Timmins area and up the James Bay Coast.

In the past hundred years, First Nation people have really been left out of the loop when it came to resource development.

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Paul Stothart is vice-president, economic affairs of the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues. www.mining.ca This column was originally published November, 2009. This column was originally published in May, 2009.

Amidst the doom and gloom of present economic times, it can be difficult to find signs of optimism that could generate light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. While economic predictions can be easily contradicted, it seems evident that there are some positives emerging from the present recession and that, more importantly, mineral prices are destined to rebound in the not-too-distant future.

Sanity is returning to input costs and waiting lists

The business environment that existed until mid-2008 was one of frenzy, cost explosion and waiting lists. Companies seeking to buy mining equipment were assigned lengthy delivery times. Basics such as large tires for mining trucks carried a one-year or longer delivery lead time. As noted in 2005 by the president of a Virginia machinery company, “there are eight people trying to get the same tire.”

Capital projects that began with cost budgets in the hundreds of millions ended with budgets in the billions. Companies reported that capital investment cost projections were doubling or more during the 2005 to 2007 timeframe. The need for $16 per hour fast food workers in oil sands country was going unmet. Marine shipping costs and timelines were expanding rapidly.

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Paul Stothart is vice-president, economic affairs of the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues. www.mining.ca This column was originally published November, 2009. This column was originally published in February, 2009

To mining company managers, an economic downturn is old hat. Typically, a few years of economic growth lead to a year or two of stagnation and low mineral demand and prices. Mining projects are put on hold until the price and availability of labour and materials return to a sound
footing. Other variables, such as wars, strikes and technological shifts can exacerbate or mitigate this cyclical movement of mineral prices.

The current economic turmoil, however, is not a traditional business cycle. Yes, the real economy is slowing in a traditional manner. Manufacturing is in recession and high overheated costs have dampened investment in natural resource development. Falling mineral and stock
prices have made the raising of new equity capital and exploration financing unfeasible.

In Canada and overseas, mine development has been postponed or cancelled and companies have entered a “batten down the hatches” mode. Credit Suisse estimates that $50 billion in capital spending in mining — two-thirds of announced global commitments — would be delayed in 2009. Beyond this cyclical slowness, though, two new variables make the present downturn tougher to gauge and recovery time frames more difficult to predict.

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