Mine Millers heading to Ottawa to press minister over Xstrata layoffs - comment on this story

Posted By Carol Mulligan/The Sudbury Star

Posted 13 hours ago

The president of Mine Mill Local 598/CAW has some pressing questions for Industry Minister Tony Clement if he gets to meet him face to face Wednesday on Parliament Hill.

Topping the list will be why the minister grilled Vale Inco Ltd. officials about an eight-week production shutdown when Clement has said little about the layoffs of 700 people at Xstrata Nickel's Sudbury operations.

"One of our ... concerns is that (Clement) raised such a fuss with the Inco issue and none of these people are getting laid off," Local 598 President Dwight Harper said Tuesday afternoon. "I'm going to ask him about that."

Harper and more than 40 other people will board a bus at 5 a.m. and head to Ottawa, seeking answers from Clement.

The contingent will include Local 598's executive board, members from its steward body and health and safety committee, laid-off workers, wives of laid-off workers, representatives from the CAW's national office and retirees.

Sudbury New Democrat MP Glenn Thibeault has been trying to arrange a meeting between Harper and Clement.

"We're optimistic," said Harper, adding Clement told Thibeault "he wasn't adverse to meeting one on one." In fact, Clement appeared interested in meeting with Dwight Harper alone, rather than a group of people.

Harper said he wants the Industry minister and Parry Sound-Muskoka MP to "know the facts" about Xstrata Nickel's involvement in Sudbury.

"Right now, he's of the opiniion that there's a bunch of new money being put into the community here, which is not the entire truth," said the union leader.

Xstrata Nickel contends it is investing millions in its Nickel Rim Project in Sudbury, but Harper said it was already doing that. "And we only have one mine so it should be a no-brainer," he said.