Vol. 76/No. 29      August 6, 2012

Locked out since Jan. 1, the 770 workers were resisting company plans to hire workers outside the union as “subcontractors,” at half the wages once union workers retire. Rio Tinto bosses initially offered union protection only for 350 so-called core jobs.

Rio Tinto Alcan, a subsidiary of mining giant Rio Tinto PLC, is the world’s second largest aluminum producer.

“It’s not as much as we wanted, but they wanted carte blanche and now there’s a limit to subcontracting,” Patrick Giasson, an electro-technician, told the Militant.

Hours worked by subcontractors are to be limited to 10 percent of those worked by union members. In the last year of the contract, which runs through 2015, that will increase to 15 percent.

“We didn’t get a minimum guaranteed number of jobs, but we got a ceiling on subcontracting,” said Local 9490 member Suzy Fournier.

“The agreement respects our goal, which is to keep the plant competitive,” Rio Tinto Alcan spokesperson Claudine Gagnon told the Militant. Gagnon wouldn’t say whether the subcontracting permitted in the new contract represents an increase over current practice.

“There was a lot of uncertainty. Some people had the ballot in their hands and didn’t know where to put their X,” Danny Beaudoin said in a phone interview. “I refused the offer. I’d have waited for Kitimat. I’m afraid we’ve cut the ground out from under them by accepting too fast.”

The contract for some 1,050 Rio Tinto smelter workers in Kitimat, British Columbia, ends July 23. They face a similar fight against subcontracting.

“This isn’t an overwhelming victory,” USW Local 9490 President Marc Maltais told the Militant. “But it’s still a union victory given the goals we set.”

Two union members were suspended by the company during the lockout, accused of sabotage. Sureté du Québec, the provincial police, told the union there was no basis for legal proceedings against the workers. The back-to-work agreement reduced each suspension by three months, to nine and six months respectively. During this time the union is supporting its two members financially.

The company also refused to drop the summons served on Pierre Simard, local union president of RTA’s hydro-electric plant workers. Simard is accused of being instrumental in exposing the secret accord between RTA and provincially-owned power company Hydro-Québec that earned the company millions of dollars through sales of its excess electricity during the lockout.

All 56 union jobs in the pot lining center will be subcontracted. The 56 union workers will be offered other jobs in Rio Tinto plants at higher pay.

“We’ll develop ties inside the plant,” said Jean-Marc Côté, a maintenance worker with 25 years’ seniority. “We should reach out to the subcontractors to get them unionized.”

“You have no idea what I gained from this conflict: the solidarity, the support,” said pot lining worker Jean-Marc Vaillancourt. “I’ll never forget it. This is a fight that’s marked me deeply forever.”

“The biggest gain in the conflict is the employer’s respect for our organization,” Marc Perron, who works in heating and ventilation, said by phone. “We’re more united than ever. We’ve mounted the first step. Now we have to climb the rest of the stairs.”
 
 
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