Global union picket in the City of London
9th November 2009
Members of Unite the union will today (9th November 2009) mount
a picket outside a Deutsche Bank metals' conference in the City of
London. The protest organised by the global union - Workers Uniting
- is in support of striking mineworkers from Vale Inco in
Canada.
Two strikers, members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union,
will join the picket to press the case to investors attending the
Deutsche Bank meeting where Vale executives are making a
presentation. The protest is the first of many actions to be
organised by Workers Uniting that will confront Vale investors
during the dispute.
Vale workers in Canada are on indefinite strike to defend their
pay and conditions. Vale wants to impose drastic cuts to pensions
and other benefits of the Canadian miners. The workers see it as
the thin end of the wedge as they believe the company wants to push
wages and conditions down to the level of Vale operations in
Brazil.
Unite joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, said, “Vale Inco
is a greedy multinational backed by Wall Street cash. Its mining
operation in Canada is hugely profitable, yet the company is
putting the squeeze on our brothers and sisters in Workers Uniting
to satisfy the insatiable appetite of the financial institutions
that gave us the credit crunch.
“The message we are here to deliver to would-be investors is
that Vale Inco is not only fighting its workforce it is fighting
the global union too.”
USW international president Leo W. Gerard: “Mining natural
resources has been a profitable enterprise for generations in
Sudbury, Canada for both the company and the workers. For a
multinational company to now attempt to slash living standards
while enjoying sky-rocketing profits is totally unacceptable.
"Workers in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and
around the world understand this, and the workers’ solidarity and
actions send a powerful message.”
Ken Neumann, USW national director for Canada, said: “Vale’s
backward, outdated approach to labour relations is also bad for
investors. Vale’s own reports indicate the Canadian labour dispute
that it provoked is costing the company $7 million in lost
production each day. We are standing together as Workers Uniting in
saying it’s time for Vale to get back to the bargaining table and
make a fair offer that benefits shareholders, workers and the
community.”
The picket will begin at 7.30am at Deutsche Bank, Winchester
House, 1 Great Winchester Street, London EC2N 2DB.
ENDS
Further details please contact:
Richard O’Brien, London: +447768 931 320; Saba Mozakka, London:
+447768 693 953; Bob Gallagher, Canada: (416) 544 5966
Notes to Editors
Workers Uniting is the world’s first global union formed of
Unite the union in the UK and Ireland and the USW in the USA and
Canada.
For more information on the global union or the Vale Inco
dispute go to www.workersuniting.org
For more information on the Vale Inco strike campaign please
visit: www.fairdealnow.ca
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