The miners, members of Mine Mill/Canadian Auto Workers Local 598, mobilized hundreds of strikers and their supporters at a rally, Sunday, January 28. Speakers included Basil Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). "I salute the courage of the Mine Mill [strikers] in taking on this incredible struggle with this vicious employer," he said, adding that the company is trying to break the union.
The success of the weekend showed the breadth of solidarity for the strike by people in the mining community of Sudbury. Miners organized a reception at the old Mine Mill Hall Friday evening where out-of-town guests such as this reporter were welcomed and helped with housing arrangements. Saturday began with a pancake and sausage breakfast followed by a mass picket in front of the entrance to four mines on the west side of Sudbury. That evening there was a delicious supper followed by speakers, music, and dancing. Sunday featured a car caravan to the community center in Falconbridge, located on the east side of Sudbury, where the rally took place, followed by mass picketing in front of the smelter.
Dave Chisholm, a striker from the Fraser mine, participated in the Sunday morning rally. He said in an interview, "As far as I'm concerned, the union is getting stronger." When the company started its assault, he stated, "They wanted to break the union. But they're finding out the union is stronger than they thought. We're fighting for everyone. If the company wins, it'll have a snowball effect--not just here, but all over the country."
There are more than 1,200 workers on strike here against Falconbridge, which produces about 4 percent of the world's nickel. The strike began August 1 when the company demanded major concessions from the union, including ending seniority rights, reducing union representatives on the job in areas such as health and safety, and contracting out work.
Through the use of scab labor and management personnel the company has been able to keep some of the mines and the smelter operating at 60 percent, according to Falconbridge. Strikers say the company is only producing at about 30 percent capacity.
Although company officials claim the strike is not hurting their operations, they were recently forced to release figures showing that fourth-quarter profits were significantly lower because of the walkout. They have also announced layoffs at their refinery in Norway, claiming a shortage of materials. The refinery is one of the world's largest and employs more than 500 people, members of Norwegian Union of Chemical Industry Workers Local 40.
The big-business press focused on incidents over the weekend that involved some damage to company property and confrontations with the police. However, the degree of discipline exercised by the union members was shown by the fact that there were no arrests despite a police mobilization, including 250 extra cops from Ontario province brought in for the weekend. The police were dressed in full riot gear for the action at the smelter January 28.
Many workers from across Ontario came to show their support. Twenty-two arrived on Saturday from York University in Toronto, many of whom are graduate students, members of Local 3903 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), who had recently won their strike for higher pay and better working conditions against York University. Joseph Tohill from CUPE Local 3903 was warmly applauded by the crowd gathered for supper at the old Mine Mill union hall when he explained that their union would like to sponsor a benefit in Toronto for the striking mine workers in order to get the strike better known "down south." Sudbury is 400 kilometers north of Toronto.
There was a group of 15 members of CAW Local 27 who had traveled eight hours to take part in the rally. One of them told the local press that the support of out-of-towners shows, "how far the Falconbridge family extends."
Annette Kouri is a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers at Quality Meats in Toronto.
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