UPDATE 1-Vale says has deal to end Voisey Bay strike
Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:25pm EST
* Details of agreement not released
* Workers expected to approve deal in coming days
(Adds details)
VANCOUVER, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Vale SA (VALE5.SA) and unionized workers at its Voisey's Bay mine in Atlantic Canada have reached a tentative deal end the 17-month strike, the Brazilian miner said on Wednesday.
The company did not release details of the agreement, but said it had been endorsed unanimously by the Untied Steelworkers bargaining committee and ratification by the workers was expected in "coming days."
The deal was reached with the help of a federal mediator.
About 130 mine and mill workers went on strike in August 2009. A parallel strike at Vale's larger mining and smelting complex at Sudbury, Ontario, was resolved last July.
Voisey's Bay, in the Atlantic province of Newfoundland and Labrador, produced 77,500 tonnes of nickel and 55,400 tonnes of copper in 2008, the last year of uninterrupted mining.
The company had resumed partial production at Voisey's earlier this year using non-union workers and outside contractors.
(Reporting by Allan Dowd; Editing by Frank McGurty)
