Strike looms after shocking vote
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More than 1,000 workers in the Kamloops area may soon hit the picket line, after voicing near-unanimous support for a strike.
The United Steelworkers Local 7619 represents workers at the Highland Valley Copper Mine in Spences Bridge. According to Union President Kyle Wolff, 85 per cent of its membership showed up for a strike vote June 16, and 99.8 per cent of them supported strike action.
“These are incredible numbers,” Wolff said. “Those members are currently under evacuation order, they’re coming home from work, they’re on vacation. It’s prime time right now, and we still had 85 per cent show up.”
The more than 1,000 employees at Teck Resources Ltd.’s Highland Valley copper mine have been without a contract since last September.
Wolff accuses Teck Resources of refusing to budge on concessions that will gut the union and allow the company to bring in contract and temporary employees, all while posting “astronomical” profits.
“The company is asking for major concessions. They’re trying to remove our pension, they’re trying to remove our employment. They’re trying to replace our workers with casual workers, and non-union contractors,” Wolff said.
“They want to displace us, they want to replace us, and they’re making millions of dollars of profit right now.”
Teck Resources representative Peter Martell points out that not a single employee would be laid off under the contract his company is proposing, and that the company’s intent is not to eliminate jobs.
“We’re focused on negotiating a modern and updated collective agreement that’s fair and reasonable to our employees and also supports the ongoing viability of Highland Valley Copper,” he said.
He said the language in the current contract is “outdated” and creating “significant challenges” for the mine.
The current contract, he says, makes it difficult to provide contracting opportunities to local business, hire job-ready apprentices out of school and even do standard warranty work on company vehicles and equipment.
Martell said Teck Resources believes their current offer is not only fair to its employees, it will help ensure the continued operation of the mine, beyond 2026.
However, Wolff says there are still 12 major concession the company is asking for that the union won’t budge on.
Right now there are no negotiations happening between the two sides, but Wolff said he hopes Teck Resources will come back to the negotiating table, so a strike can be avoided.
However, he wouldn’t give any firm timelines on when workers would walk off the job if talks don’t resume. Should that strike proceed, Martell says the Highland Valley Copper would be forced to suspend its operations.
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