Falconbridge Fails To Reach Contract Settlement with Union

Following two months of negotiations for a new collective agreement, Falconbridge Limited and the union representing the company’s Sudbury nickel operations failed to reach an agreement. The result has been a strike at the Sudbury, Ontario site Jan. 31.

The facility produces roughly five percent of the world’s nickel supply.

Falconbrdige has begun halting production at the facility’s four mines and a mill. The smelter produced close to 60,000 tons of unrefined nickel. In addition to metal ore from the mines, Falconbridge’s smelter processes nickel concentrates from some of its other mines in Canada, as well as some secondary metals.