Inco inks Thompson pact (September 16, 2002)

Members of the United Steelworkers’ Local 6166 at Inco‘s (N-T) Thompson, Manitoba operations approved a new three-year collective agreement on Sunday.

In a prepared statement the union said the new deal, "significantly increases pensions, boosts wages by an average of 4.3%, and improves coverage for accident and sickness."

Under the agreement, retiring workers with 30 years of service will receive a pension of $3,000 per month. Benefits for workers off as a result of sickness or accident increase to $575 per week for a maximum of 104 weeks, from $450 for 52 weeks.

Also under the deal, a savings fund plan that had been cut back in the previous contract has been reinstated at payment based on 2% of base wages.

The union said that by the end of the new contract, which expires on Sept. 15, 2005, the average wage would be around $25 an hour. The average could be boosted by as much as $1.32 per hour, depending on the cost of living adjustment.

Inco’s 145,000-tonne-per-year nickel plant at Thompson employs about 1,400 people; the union represents around 1,000 of them. The operation churns out more than 45,000 tonnes of nickel annually.