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By Doug Cunningham

[Leo Gerard Chant]: “No contract, no peace!”

For three thousand United Steel Workers member in Sudbury, Ontario this Christmas is a bitter struggle to protect their families from the immense greed of Vale Inco, an international mining company. The workers have been on strike at Vale Inco for five months. Issues include a company demand to end pensions for new hires and to cut bonuses workers now get. United Steel Workers President Leo Gerard says beyond those issues, the bigger struggle is to preserve a decent standard of living for mine workers as Vale Inco pushes to destroy that for a new “business model” like they use in Brazil that treats workers like chattel. Gerard says in the 30 months Vale Inco has been in Ontario they’ve made $4.2 billion in profit, yet still want to cut compensation to the workers who create that wealth.

[Gerard]: “They extracted the wealth from our community and moved it off shore. The wealth we create flies right over Toronto and Ottawa and goes to bankers in Japan and in New York and Gret Britain and in Germany and yes, in Brazil, too. And the workers in Brazil get treated like chattel.”