Cameco union balks at negotiating during layoff

It is possible to continue bargaining during the temporary layoff at the operations and we are working with the union to find ways to do that.

The union representing workers at two Cameco Corp. uranium operations in northern Saskatchewan is “very disappointed” at the prospect of having to negotiate a new contract while the facilities are shut down and most of its members laid off.

United Steelworkers (USW ) Local 8914’s collective agreement expired Dec. 31 — seven weeks after Saskatoon-based Cameco announced plans to temporarily close its McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill, throwing about 845 people out of work for 10 months.

Those layoffs are set to begin this week, with employees “trickling out” until the beginning of February, USW Local 8914 president Denis O’Hara said. Meanwhile, the union’s next bargaining meeting with company management is scheduled for March 15, he added.

“It’s very difficult to negotiate a new collective agreement in a downturn market with the facilities shut down. How can we present it to the membership when they’re scattered from Flin Flon to Yorkton to Wollaston Lake to La Loche?” O’Hara said in an interview.

“(But) Cameco made it clear they want to negotiate a new contract while we’re on layoff,” O’Hara continued, adding that union members are opposed to negotiating while laid off.

Cameco spokesman God Struthers in an email confirmed that contract negotiations for workers at McArthur River and Key Lake are underway, and the first meeting between the company and the union was held last week.

“It is possible to continue bargaining during the temporary layoff at the operations and we are working with the union to find ways to do that,” Struthers said in the email.

Cameco, which has been struggling since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster curbed demand for uranium, said it was shutting down McArthur River and Key Lake in a response to “unsustainably” weak prices, which have dropped 75 per cent in seven years.

The 585 direct employees affected by the shutdowns will retain their benefits and be paid 75 per cent of their base salary, through employment insurance and “topups,” for the next 10 months — an arrangement O’Hara said was “way more” than he anticipated.

At the same time, the union president said, employees are concerned because their layoff notices don’t have a recall date and it will be difficult to negotiate a new contract for members facing an “insecure time” in their lives.

This is not the first time a USW local has raised concerns about bargaining while mining operations are shut down.

In October 2016, USW Local 7656 — which operates at Mosaic Co.’s Colonsay potash mine — raised concerns about legislation that limits mandatory conciliation to 60 days, potentially forcing a vote while employees are laid off.