As Manitoba mine strike looms, Hudbay hires replacement workers and security forces

Hudbay Minerals is stating it intends to keep its 777 Mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba operating despite a pending strike by 200 union workers scheduled to begin Saturday, according to news reports.

Rob Winton, Vice-President of Hudbay’s Manitoba Business Unit, said the company’s contingency plans are ready and will be enacted once union members walk off the job,  The Reminder is reporting.

Winton told the Flin Flon newspaper that a strike “would be irresponsible and against the interests of the company, the employees, the towns and even the striking employees.”

According to the Reminder, Hudbay is set to bring in replacement workers to try and break the looming strike at the 777 mine and two other mines near Snow Lake by the International Association of Machinists, Local 1848.

The Reminder also reported that it “has also confirmed (though not through Hudbay) that security personnel, evidently under contract to the company, arrived in the community over the weekend.”

“We have always had a security team and if we need additional assistance we will bring in the necessary resources,” Winton told the newspaper

According to a notice on the union’s website, the strikes are scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 2.

The 777 Mine, has long been a cornerstone of Hudbay’s operation although that role is being replaced by Hudbay’s much larger Constancia open pit copper mine in Peru that is ramping up operations.

Kenny Oliynyk, identified on the union’s website as a member of the union’s negotiating team, wrote that the striking workers’ “skill, knowledge and experience CANNOT be replaced.”

The Reminder is reporting that no further talks are scheduled with the union before the strike is scheduled to begin.

Controversy and conflict at Hudbay mines is nothing new.

In November of 2014, approximately 400 protestors occupied Hudbay’s $1.7 billion Constancia project. The protestors demanded that the company honor commitments made to the local community for employment, educational, housing and health benefits.

Hudbay is also facing three civil suits in an Ontario court related to its alleged role in human rights violations in Guatemala stemming from the shooting death of a Mayan community leader, the shooting of a young man that left him paralyzed and the alleged gang rapes of 11 Mayan women.

Hudbay is the owner of the proposed $1.5 billion Rosemont open pit copper mine that would be built in the Santa Rita Mountains on the Coronado National Forest southeast of Tucson.

The previous owner of the proposed mine, Augusta Resource, made no commitment to hiring union labor for the project.

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3 Responses to As Manitoba mine strike looms, Hudbay hires replacement workers and security forces

  1. ALAN JOHNSON says:

    HOW DO THE ACTIVITIES OF HUDBAY IN CANADA RELATE TO THE ROSEMONT PROJECT WHICH IS UNDER US REGULATORY ADMINISTRATION AT THE COUNTY , STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS .

    IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE US AGENCIES INVOLVED TO ESTABLISH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS WHEREBY HUDBAY I S GRANTED THE RIGHT TO DEVELOP THE ROSEMONT PROSPECT . CONFLICT BETWEEN RESOURCE DEVELOPERS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IS LIKE A ” CAT & MOUSE ” ENCOUNTER .

  2. T J Stewart says:

    Good Golly If You Follow The Money Obama/Clinton/Soros Who Run “All Unions” Wake-Up Hudbay Employees “All Unions Suck” USA/Canada!! God Bless America And The USA Tea Party Patriots.

  3. Water Man says:

    What about the lack of water from the CAP? Is everyone missing this critical issue in the permitting process….???