Cameco, union reach deal (November 15, 2004)

About 62% of the 200 hourly workers at Cameco‘s (CCO-T) Port Hope uranium conversion plant in Ontario have voted to accept a new, 3-year contract offer.

The local union, represented by the United Steelworkers of America, had been on strike since late July.

“We are pleased to finalize an agreement with our unionized employees,” says Cameco CEO Jerry Grandey.

The employees returned to work in mid-September. Completing scheduled summer maintenance and ramping up to normal production levels will take about five weeks.

The conversion plant is about 1,000 tonnes behind Cameco’s 2004 production target of 12,500 tonnes of uranium.

Cameco met its sales obligations during the strike by processing stockpiled uranium ore.