Steelworkers Take Protest to Big Apple

THE SUDBURY STAR, 5 Dec. 2009 - It wasn’t all mink coats and tuxedos Thursday at New York City’s Tony Waldorf Astoria Hotel when Vale chief executive officer Roger Agnelli received the global citizenship award from the Business Council for International Understanding.

Across Park Avenue from the landmark hotel, more than 200 protesters, dressed much more casually, chanted slogans and hoisted placards denouncing the Brazilian CEO and his company for being anti-union.

Agnelli, a former banker, is president of the 30th largest company in the world, the parent company of Vale Inco Ltd., which has several mining operations in Sudbury.

About 3,200 Ontario Steelworkers have been on strike against Vale Inco since July 13 over the company’s proposals to down-grade their pension plan, reduce their nickel bonus and limit seniority transfer rights.

About 50 of those strikers, 40 from Local 6500 in Sudbury and 10 from Local 6200 in Port Colborne, made the trip to the Big Apple to draw attention to their labour dispute, soon to enter its six month.

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