(The following article is from the April 1-15, 2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

By Liz Rowley

The nine-month old strike against Vale Inco by the United Steelworkers Union in Sudbury and Port Colborne, was marked by a 5,000 strong rally organized on March 22 by Local 6500. Supporters came from across Ontario, some travelling as long as eight hours to back the longest nickel mining strike in Sudbury's history.

     The "Bridging the Gap" rally was intended to force Vale Inco back to the bargaining table.

     Speakers from Vietnam, Australia, Germany, Indonesia, and the US brought greetings. Several spoke about their own strikes against Vale Inco, universally described as a vicious global corporation out to break unions and maximize profits at all costs. Some (like the Australians) brought money; before the rally was finished, over $150,000 had been donated by sister unions from across the globe.

     USWA President Leo Gerard described the company's latest diatribe - an attack on the union as racist for refusing to accept an offer in excess of Brazilian miners' wages - as "low", shameful and a lie.

     The proof was solidarity. Union of Ontario Indians Grand Chief Pat Madahbee told the rally that the UOI had passed a resolution supporting the strikers last fall, and would continue to support the strike until victory. "We're with you! We're with you!", he said to a standing ovation.

     The UOI is expected to organize blockades on the highways in and around Sudbury to stop trucks transporting "hot cargo" if the strike is not settled.

     OFL President Sid Ryan pledged the support of Ontario's one million union members. "This strike is everybody's business!" he said, pointing out the breadth and depth of the corporate assault against workers and the need for a united response.

     In reply to Vale Inco's campaign of disinformation, USW President Leo Gerard invited the company to "Come to Sudbury tomorrow. We're ready to negotiate!"

     Gerard and others called on Ottawa to review the Canada Investment Act, which allowed the Brazilian multinational to buy INCO three years ago. A secret codicil agreement signed by Vale was supposed to guarantee continued investment in Canada, along with current job levels. Vale has been accused of planning to reduce the work force from over 3,000 to 1,800 or less. The union is demanding the federal government rescind the agreement and the sale.

     Strikers were invited to "stand up and look under your chair" for Sudbury Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci, conspicuous by his absence. Bartolucci's genuflection to the company and solemn recitations of "neutrality" have garnered universal contempt. His days as an MPP will be over in next year's election.

     NDP leader Jack Layton and Ontario leader Andrea Horwath also spoke, supporting strikers and calling for federal and provincial anti-scab legislation.

     The workers are more united today than nine months ago, as seen in the 89% NO vote in Sudbury and 98% NO vote in Port Colborne on March 12, when the company forced a ballot on their "last offer" of concessions on pensions, the nickel bonus, and seniority.

     Vale Inco thought strikers had been softened up or broken by the harsh winter, the loss of income (and even the loss of homes), and the use of scabs. The company was dead wrong.

     Strikers have dug in for the long haul, and young workers have matured into picket line leaders. Like the process of mining itself, the heat and pressure generated by this strike has produced a new generation of union activists, committed to hold out "as long as it takes" to win.

     So far, the strike has cost Vale Inco an estimated $1.8 billion and counting. This doesn't include the loss of an estimated $4 billion in annual profits that the company made in previous years. Put them together and the real figure is close to $6 billion.

     But this is a company with deep pockets and operations all over the world. Sudbury represents 3% of its global holdings, enabling Vale to utilize other sites to fill orders for nickel and precious metals. Nickel prices are rising, and could generate a tidy profit if Canadian nickel were mined, refined and sold today.

     Vale Inco's primary goal is to break the union, setting the pattern for union busting in the mining sector in Canada and internationally. That's why Vale has antagonized entire communities by bringing in scabs. It's part of a psychological assault, intended to provoke violence on picket lines.

     Vale has fired ten union militants for "picket line violence', sued 25 strikers, and taken others to court, where the charges have usually thrown out. Violence is what they are trying very hard to get. Police dogs were at the ready on March 22, and about 200 cops were in reserve across the adjacent rail lines. So far the police have been careful, according to union members, and dogs have not been used.

     But the scabs are working, producing precious metals which fetch a high price. They are housed in Vale Inco offices on the mine and smelter sites, (a fact the city ignores, though it breaks several by-laws), and flown in and out weekly by helicopter, also a breach of the picket line agreements set by the courts. The scabs are paid very well for their labour, including large allowances for their week "inside".

     This work is extremely dangerous, and none of them are trained to do it, short of reading a manual and following directions from management/foremen on the job. At least two of the furnaces have been wrecked, according to strikers.

     The whole labour movement has an interest in the outcome of this strike. It will set the pattern in negotiations throughout the mining industry in Canada, and it will link up with other corporate assaults on Canadian workers.

     Regrettably, CLC President Ken Georgetti did not attend the rally. The CLC, of all organizations, should know that its role is crucial. It seems the miners and smelterworkers in Sudbury are willing to fight "one day longer" than Vale Inco. Is the CLC ready to lead that fight across Canada? The answer needs to be an resounding Yes.

     (Rowley is the Ontario leader of the Communist Party.)