PotashCorp said Aug. 26 that it had restarted the Allan mine in Saskatchewan on Aug. 25. In the meantime, members of the United Steel Workers continue the strike they began Aug. 7.
PotashCorp said it restarted potash mining and milling operations at the Allan facility primarily using staff from this and other PotashCorp operations. The company has also hired about half a dozen non-union workers to do certain jobs.
The company, which normally runs four shifts, is currently operating two. This facility is the largest of the three impacted by the strike, producing 1.74 million mt in 2007. The company said production rates will be determined as the work moves forward.
The company said contingency plans continue to be evaluated for the Cory and Patience Lake facilities, the latter of which only operates between October and May.
PotashCorp said progress on potash debottlenecking and expansion projects at all three sites has been minimally impacted by the strikes. Each project is continuing on schedule.
USW Western Canada Director Stephen Hunt said last week that by refusing to return to the bargaining table, PotashCorp is letting its most skilled employees slip through its fingers.
“Our members are finding jobs in a hot labor market hungry for skilled trades,” said Hunt. “It’s not just a few people, it’s about two-thirds of the PCS workforce. Without our people operating and maintaining production at the three Saskatoon-area mines, the company will have a much harder time restarting full production. It is being extremely short-sighted.”
He said a job fair by Alberta-based Syncrude was held Thursday afternoon (Aug. 28) at the Delta-Bessborough Hotel.
“Union members support their bargaining committee as they have done all along,” said Hunt. “They voted 96 percent against the company’s last offer. Nobody wants a strike, but neither do they want to be told they do not deserve a fair and equitable contract. That’s what this dispute is all about.”
A PotashCorp spokesman took issue with Hunt’s statement about the 96 percent vote on the last offer. He said the union members were never allowed to vote on PotashCorp’s last offer.
USW argues that PotashCorp is receiving far more profit per worker than most mining companies, but it pays wages lower than many other major Canadian mining operations. It says PotashCorp CEO Bill Doyle is perhaps the most highly-compensated Canadian corporate executive. It cited a Globe and Mail report in May revealing that Doyle’s stock options are now worth more than $600-million, a value never before seen for an executive at a public company in Canada.
Overall, USW says there is a glaring inequity between what PotashCorp pays its executives and what it pays its miners. It maintains that the stock options held by top PotashCorp executives are worth more than the wages paid to all PotashCorp employees and royalties paid to the Government of Saskatchewan. USW goes on to say that PotashCorp is worth some $60 billion, and that privatizing the company was one of the worst financial decisions ever made by the province of Saskatchewan. USW reiterates that the potash remains a Crown-owned resource that belongs to the people of Saskatchewan.
PotashCorp argues that its final offer would have made the USW members among the highest paid miners in the world. It also argues that the miners are seeking a $157,000 annual bonus based on 2008 first-half earnings.
In related news, PotashCorp says its New Brunswick potash mine does not have a labor agreement ending in late 2010, as was initially reported in the Green Markets dated Aug. 25. The labor agreement up in late 2010 is at the nearby Cassidy Lake facility, which has fewer than 10 employees. Cassidy Lake employees are represented by the USW, the same union that represents miners at the Cory, Allan, and Patience Lake mines, which are on strike. PotashCorp noted that the New Brunswick miners are non-union.