Local 6500 in Sudbury, Vale reach tentative agreement

United Steelworkers Local 6500 reaches tentative deal with Vale, averting potential strike for about 3,000 workers.

United Steelworkers Local 6500, which represents about 3,000 workers in Greater Sudbury, announced May 26 that it has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with Vale Ltd.

“Your bargaining committee is happy to announce we have reached a tentative agreement that we unanimously support,” the union said in a social media post.

The bargaining committee announced in early May that it had received almost 98 per cent support for a strike mandate in its talks with the company.

Finalized early Tuesday morning

No details of the tentative deal have been released. Local 6500 president Ray Hammond told CTV News that the agreement was finalized early Tuesday morning (May 26).

Hammond said more information on the contract will be made public after members receive the details later this week.

“A lot of work went into it,” he said, of the tentative agreement.

A message to Vale seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned May 26.

Members will get the details of the tentative agreement at a series of meetings May 27-28 at USW Local 6500 Hall on Brady Street in Sudbury.

Voting online on the agreement begins at 9 a.m. May 28 and the polls close at 9 p.m. May 29.