Senior management also hit in new Falconbridge moves

Chairman William James of Falconbridge Ltd. will himself be among tho se to feel the direct effect of recently-announced production cutbacks and layoffs at Sudbury, and other cost-cutting moves by the company.

The principal target will be a reduction in staff of 275 at Falconbridge’s Sudbury operations, and production shutdowns there of close to two weeks at the end of this year, and during the months of July and August next summer.

The personnel cuts at Sudbury will mean about a 10% reduction in staff from the present workforce of 2,600 and actual production of Sudbury nickel will be down by about one-sixth next year, because of the planned shutdowns.

As well, the company will close its Norwegian refinery for at least a month next summer.

Toronto head office will also feel the pinch, a company spokesman tells The Northern Miner. He said senior management staff, including Mr James, will take a salary cut (amount unspecified) and the working hours in Toronto will be extended by an unpaid half-hour each day.

The moves are all in response to continuing low prices and a world oversupply of nickel, the company says. Analysts have been saying for some time now that the nickel industry must cut production to counter the oversupply and price problems.

Falconbridge hopes it will be able to reduce the number of actual layoffs at Sudbury by offering an early retirement package to 435 employees who are 54 or over. If for instance, 175 of these were to accept the retirement package, it would mean layoffs of only 100.

In any case, though, the spokesman said, the total number would still have to add up to the planned 275. The last time there was a production shutdown at Sudbury was in July of 1983, for a 2-week period. In 1982, a shutdow n was in effect for the entire second half of the year.

As a result of the current cuts, production next year at Sudbury operation is expected to drop to less than 60 million lbs, from this year’s anticipated output of from 68 million to 70 million lb.