Canada: metal-workers strike over pensions and pay

Workers at the mining company QIT Fer et Titane in Quebec hav been on strike for over a month, with no end in sight.

Submitted by jef costello on October 6, 2007

Workers are protesting against the two-tier pension system that the company, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, is trying to impose on new workers. Workers had already accepted a freeze on benefits to allow the company to make up pension shortfalls.

The workers are also demanding a salary increase and there are further non-financial demands.

The strike action began on the first of September, with all 230 workers at both sites, Sorel-Tracy and Havre-Saint-Pierre, voting in favour. The strike is holding solid with neither side willing to back down and there is currently no official negotiation at all.

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