The deadline for talksbetween Steelworkers Local 6500 and Local 6200 (Port Colborne) and Vale Inco is July 12 at midnight.

Information meetingsfor Local 6500 members will be held at Garson Arena on July 8 at 1 and 8 p. m and July 9 at 1 p. m.

Ratification voteswill be held July 10 and 11. The times and places will be announced.

It's time to let the community know United Steelworkers Local 6500 is fed up with bargaining with a "Third World employer" that only recognizes dollars and not people, says John Fera.

The president of Local 6500 said virtually no progress has been made in contract talks that began with Vale Inco Ltd. on April 7 and were extended to July 12.

With just two weeks left, Fera and United Steelworkers District 6 director Wayne Fraser said Friday they want the public to know how difficult it has been negotiating with a company seeking "a concessionary contract."

Sudburians "should fully understand how it will negatively impact the cash flow in our community," they said in a written statement.

Fera said before the former Inco Ltd. was sold to Brazilianowned CVRD, wealth generated in Sudbury mostly stayed in Sudbury.

"But now it goes into the pockets of Brazilian owners."

Fera and Fraser lashed out at the federal government, saying it "must have been sleeping when they sold us out to Vale instead of protecting our non-renewable natural resources that now belong to Brazil."

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Fera said before contract talks began he didn't know what to expect in dealing with a new employer.

While his bargaining committee is facing many of the same Canadian negotiators it did in the past with Inco, it is dealing with a new company that "doesn't believe in long-term commitments," he said.

Fraser and Fera accused Vale Inco of not employing workers long enough "to get enough seniority to see a pension. Often workers at Vale get fired after three or four years of employment."

Fera would not give specifics of the concessions Vale Inco is seeking, saying he would present details to members at information meetings July 8 and 9.

Virtually every proposal or recommendation the union has presented has been met with "nothing but pushback from this company and, quite frankly, we're fed up with it.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the time, their first answer has been no," he told The Star.

He accused Vale Inco of being focused on being "in a continual growth mode" rather than caring about its human resources.

Two related issues really have Steelworkers steamed, said Fera.

The first is the delay in members receiving Employment Insurance benefits for being laid off during a production shutdown June 1-July 27 at Vale Inco's Ontario operations.

Inco has a supplementary plan that pays workers what they would receive in EI benefits during the normal twoweek waiting period before benefits start.

Fera said union leaders understood that meant there would be a "seamless" flow from pay for vacation time workers had to take before they qualified for EI benefits.

The union has learned from Service Canada that members will not receive benefits until they have been off the job and without a pay cheque for five or six weeks.

Vale Inco spokesman Steve Ball said the company is following EI policy in filing records of employment and other documents after employees have been off the payroll, and that is causing the delay.

The union is also furious because it understood its benefits package would apply during the contract extension, but some members have discovered eye glasses and changes in medication prescriptions are not being covered by insurance carrier Manulife.

Ball said employees who used up eye-glass coverage in the contract ending May 31, 2009, have not been covered during the extension period and won't be until a new contract is struck.

Fera said union leaders thought they were bargaining in good faith on these two issues when the contract was extended.

Vale Inco released a statement Friday afternoon in response to USW's news release in which it said it was disappointed the union had chosen "disparaging remarks in the media as a means to negotiate. We find that neither constructive, nor productive."

The company said it has been clear from the outset of bargaining "where we need to take the business and what outcomes are required to get us there."

It said it is committed to the bargaining process and reaching a settlement by July 12 that will "preserve the health of the business today and into the future.

"The world has changed and we need to change with it to be a viable and competitive business for the long-term. Yesterday's approaches won't solve tomorrow's challenges. We believe structuring the business for long-term success is the best outcome for the company, our employees and the Sudbury community."

Fera said his union is not prepared to "bend over" and accept concessions, and it will tell members that at the information meetings and at ratification meetings set for July 10 and 11 at Garson Arena.

"They think they're Goliath and we will (give in)," said Fera of Vale Inco.