Significant Strike at Fermont ArcelorMittal Mining Complex
Broad Support for ArcelorMittal Workers
  Workers from across Quebec rally at ArcelorMittal's Canadian headquarters
in Longueuil, May 21, 2021
Support for the ArcelorMittal workers on strike at
ArcelorMittal's facilities on Quebec's North Shore since May 10 is
coming from throughout Quebec and beyond.
ArcelorMittal workers in "the South" -- the Montreal and
Montérégie regions -- have pledged ongoing support to the
striking workers.
In the first week of the strike, Steelworkers' locals from five
ArcelorMittal operations in Contrecoeur, Longueuil and Montreal sent
$14,000 and announced that members of these locals will continue making
donations to the strikers for the duration of the labour dispute. These
locals are: Locals 6586 and 8060 at the Contrecoeur East steel plant;
Local 6586-2 at the Contrecoeur-Feruni recycling and processing
facility; Local 6951 at the Contrecoeur West steel plant; Local 8897 at
the Longueuil steel plant and Local 9399 at the Saint-Patrick facility.
 "The strike by our brothers and sisters is a courageous struggle to
ensure that a fair portion of ArcelorMittal's astronomical profits is
returned to the Quebec economy," said Yves Rolland, President of
Steelworkers Local 6951 and spokesperson for the Comité de
solidarité de l'acier (Steel Solidarity Committee). We stand in
solidarity with the
people of the North and will support them financially throughout this
dispute. We will also be there to support them in the streets," Rolland
said.
"We have the same employer as our brothers and sisters in the North.
They extract our natural resources in the North and we provide the
value-added processing and manufacturing in our plants in the South.
Their battle for respect and for economic benefits for Quebec is our
battle," he added.
The striking ArcelorMittal workers also received a pledge of
recurrent financial support from United Steelworkers' Local 5795
representing the workers at the Iron Ore
Company of Canada's (IOC) Labrador West operations. In its message to the striking workers, Local 5795
says that "With great pride, Local 5795 membership voted on
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 during our regular monthly meeting to donate to
Metallos 5778, one dollar per member for each week they remain on
strike. They appreciate your support beyond measure." This refers to
the support, including financial support, the ArcelorMittal North Shore
workers provided to the Labrador workers during their
nine-week strike in the spring of 2018. That fight was against
concessionary demands, including transforming some of the workers into
a temporary work force with inferior conditions, and for improvements
in wages, and medical and pension benefits.
On May 20, representatives of USW Local 9344, representing IOC
workers in Sept-Îles, went to the ArcelorMittal picket line in
Port-Cartier to support the strikers. They handed over a cheque for
$5,000 to the strikers and announced that they will donate $10 per
member per month, or $3,400, for the duration of the conflict.
"We may work for employers who are in competition with each other,
but we mining workers are all steelworkers, we are North Shore
residents, we all care about the economy and the vitality of our
region. The slogan of the ArcelorMittal brothers' and sisters' strike, The Resources from Here for the Economy Here also illustrates our
reality
very well," said Eddy Wright, president of Local 9344.
At
a demonstration at ArcelorMittal's Canadian headquarters
in Longueuil on May 21, Jason Braconnier, a representative of
Local 6586 at the Contrecoeur East plant, announced
that the workers held a special meeting where they decided to provide
$10 per worker per
week to striking workers from the first day of the strike until it
ends. He reminded the
participants that ArcelorMittal workers' locals signed a solidarity
pact with each other in 2015
and this recurring financial support is a way for members to honour it.
Mario Brin, a
representative of USW Local 9449, which represents workers at the
Glencore-owned Raglan
mine in Nunavik, also announced financial support.
May 21, 2021. Rally at ArcelorMittal headquarters in Longueuil
This article was published in
May 31, 2021 - No. 51
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08511.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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