HIGH-GRADE NI-CU-PT-PD-ZN-CR-AU-V-TI DISCOVERIES IN THE "RING OF FIRE"
NI 43-101 Update (September 2012): 11.1 Mt @ 1.68% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.89 gpt Pt and 3.09 gpt Pd and 0.18 gpt Au (Proven & Probable Reserves) / 8.9 Mt @ 1.10% Ni, 1.14% Cu, 1.16 gpt Pt and 3.49 gpt Pd and 0.30 gpt Au (Inferred Resource)
Message: Vale and Sudbury, from the Sudbury Star, Sept, 21,2009
Steel to city businesses: 'You're either on our side, or Vale's'
UNION POLITICS
Posted By DENIS ST. PIERRE, THE SUDBURY STAR
Posted 2 hours ago
You're either with us or you're against us.
That message has been delivered to the community -- unequivocally and unapologetically -- by Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers union.
"You're either on our side, or you're on Vale's side," Gerard declared during a Saturday rally at Sudbury Community Arena, to thunderous applause by a crowd of at least 2,500 supporters.
The Steelworkers are asking local businesses to post signs in their windows, printed by the union, which state: "Sudbury supports working families."
The signs call for a "fair deal" for the 3,400 workers who are on strike against Vale Inco in Sudbury, Port Colborne and Voisey's Bay, Nfld.
Gerard and other Steelworkers officials said they are convinced the overwhelming majority of Sudburians support the strikers and recognize the community's stake in the labour dispute.
But it also is important to publicly demonstrate that support, they said.
If some local businesses are not prepared to support the strikers by posting the signs on their premises, then Steelworkers and their supporters will be asked not to support those businesses, Gerard said.
"Let us know what side you're on," he said during the rally.
"If you're on our side, we'll stand with you. If you're not on our side, we'll never spend another dime ... in your store."
In an interview following the rally, it was suggested to Gerard his message could be interpreted by some business people as intimidation.
"Too bad," he responded flatly.
Businesses have the right not to support the strikers and their cause, Gerard said.
But the workers and their supporters in the community also have the right not to support those businesses, he added.
"There's not a business in town that hasn't benefited from our struggles," Gerard said.
The entire community stands to lose if Vale Inco prevails in its demands for historic concessions from the Steelworkers, he said.
Most Sudburians, including business people, understand that fact, he added.
Vale Inco's demands for concessions on pensions and the workers' nickel bonus will leave the community with less of the wealth generated by local mining operations, Gerard said.
Ultimately, that will cost the local economy hundreds of millions of dollars and significant job losses throughout the community, he said.
"Everything that Vale wants to do is going to lower the standard of living in our community. So, if you are going to make the choice that you stand with Vale, you're choosing a poorer community, a community where we don't have the same capacity to support and to build our community."
Gerard referred to research that indicates "90% of what is earned by our members is spent in this community."
Over the last couple of years, Gerard said, the miners' nickel bonus helped inject about $180 million into the local economy.
"What would the multiplier effect of that be -- $500 million?" he said.
"What's the impact on jobs, on families?
"So if someone supports Vale's side, that's what they're supporting. Our community will suffer; everybody in the community will suffer."
Article ID# 1762091
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