Canadian Press: Teck and Union Reach Deal

Teck Cominco, union reach deal

Monday, October 3, 2005 Posted at 5:27 PM EDT
Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — Teck Cominco Ltd. and the union representing 1,300 workers on strike at its Trail, B.C., smelter have reached a tentative agreement, the company said Monday. Details of the agreement were not released, but wages and pensions had been key points in the dispute, which resulted in the first strike at the smelter since 1990.

The company and the United Steelworkers had been meeting with the help of a mediator since last week in a bid to end the strike, which began July 19. Union members are to vote on the tentative deal Tuesday and Wednesday.

Teck Cominco spokeswoman Carol Vanelli-Worosz said once the employees are back on the job it will take about seven days before the smelter is back to running at full capacity.

“I think there is a sense of relief that we have reached this tentative agreement and hopefully the membership will ratify the agreement that is put forth to them,” Vanelli-Worosz said.

The workers are represented by two locals of the United Steelworkers of America: Local 480, which represents 1,140 production employees in Trail, and Local 9705, representing 170 technical and clerical workers.

They had been looking for their share of the windfall that Teck has received from extraordinarily strong metal and coal markets in recent months that have driven the company's earnings. The union was seeking wage increases that are almost double what the company offered, as well as improvements to pensions and earlier retirement with full benefits. The company was seeking to shift from a defined-benefit pension plan to a defined-contribution plan for new unionized workers, as it has done with non-union employees.

Rick Georgetti, president of Local 9705, said the strike, though long and painful, was necessary.

“A company that is making record profits coming after concessions, our members found very unacceptable and we were able to succeed because of the support we got from our members,” he said.

“I'm satisfied that our bargaining committee got all the money that was achievable without prolonging this thing for a long period of time.”

In its second quarter, Teck Cominco earned $225 million or $1.04 per diluted share for the three months ended June 30. That compared with a profit of $116 million, or 56 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Quarterly revenue grew to $994 million from $777 million. Teck Cominco shares closed down 40 cents at $51.75 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday.