Falconbridge, Dickenson cut staff

Staff cuts have been announced at Falconbridge’s Sudbury Division and Dickenson Mines’ (TSE) Arthur W. White Mine near Red Lake, Ont.

To counter the effects of rising world nickel inventories and the increasing production cost at its Sudbury operations, Falconbridge has completed plans to reduce the overall workforce by 200.

Of the reductions, which include employees and contractors, 69 have opted for early retirement. Sixty-four production and maintenance workers and 29 clerical and technical workers have been laid off, and 38 employees have been added to a contractor pool. Layoffs should be completed by late February. Richard Laine, director of human resources and public affairs for the Sudbury Division, anticipates that within the next three years the workforce will be reduced by an additional 10%. However, most of these jobs will be eliminated through natural attrition.

In other news, 31 employees at Dickenson’s Arthur W. White mine were laid off in mid-January. The layoffs included salaried and hourly employees from all departments. A company spokesman said that the layoffs were carried out to cut operating costs at the company’s Northern Ontario gold mine. Over the past two years, Dickenson has reduced staff levels at the mine to 251 from 385 employees by a program of early retirement, attrition and layoff.