The deal accepted by the members of the United Steelworkers Local 9508 includes:
- A $4,000 return-to-work bonus, with an immediate $2,000 payment and another $2,000 paid after three full months on the job;
- A $1-per-hour basic wage increase over the term of the contract, plus annual cost-of-living increases;
- A new, on-site bonus, worth 10 per cent of a worker's base wage rate;
- An increase in the employer's contribution to the defined-contribution pension plan, from 6% of base salary to 8 per cent of base salary;
- A two-pronged bonus plan, with a cap of 25 per cent of workers' straight-time wages;
- An additional paid holiday, for the Family Day holiday in February;
- New contracting-out language that precludes layoffs of unionized workers if the company is using contractors;
- Improved health and safety language.
"Our members are returning to work with their heads held high," Steelworkers representative Boyd Bussey stated in an announcement on the deal. "They stood up for their families and their communities and fought for what they believed in."
Despite the benefits, United Steelworkers district director for Atlantic Canada and Ontario, Wayne Fraser, lashed out at Vale.
"This labour dispute was unnecessarily provoked and prolonged by a giant multinational corporation," he stated. "Our members deserve to be proud for standing up to this foreign corporation and for finally achieving a fair deal."
The contract is a five-year agreement, taking effect immediately and expiring in 2016. The union has said Vale had been pushing for a three-year contract.
