Monday, September 11, 2006

Uperty date on VBNC Voisey's Bay strike.

Thanks to Okalakatiget Society [CKOK] we have some news on what is going on with attempts to get ships into Voisey’s Bay mine/mill.

Union local representative said they have a couple of camps set up on Islands that cover the shipping track to the mine. He said they would stay there till freeze up if necessary. A rotation of picketers would be set up if it is needed.

The mv Arctic attempted to get into the loading dock Sunday 10 September. Union local members contacted the skipper by HF radio and explained who they were and what the situation was. Skipper responded by asking for permission to enter the narrows with the intention of turning around, this was given the OK by picketers. The Arctic is laying off waiting for further instructions.
VBNC spokesperson says that the union action is illegal, that the Arctic has supplies to repair damage caused by recent fire to concentrate storage area, and VBNC have no intention of loading concentrate.
Union people say this is “bullshit” as they have information that VBNC has intentions of loading concentrate for shipping overseas.

RCMP in Fisheries boat was observing the goings on from a distance. Union spokesperson claimed that an RCMP officer approached them later in the day and commended them for the way the situation was handled by the picketers.

1 comment:

The Fishician said...

You can't teach an old dog new tricks, and you can't teach Inco to become anything other than what it was when god created it--a union-bustin, raw produce shippin', low wage payin' dinosaur. God bless the people of the North Coast of Labrador. It may be a long long winter.