Agreement in principle reached between Raglan Mine and United Steelworkers

A file photo of the Raglan Mine. The site has 1,200 employees. Of those, 20 per cent are Inuit. (Glencore Canada)

An agreement in principle has been reached in the three-month long strike at Raglan Mine in Nunavik, the Arctic region of Quebec.

“A tentative agreement has been reached between [United Steelworkers] Local 9449 bargaining committee and that of the multinational Glencore,” the union posted on their website Monday.

The 630 United Steelworkers have been on strike since May 27.

Among the main issues for the union were the use of subcontractors, vacations and wages, as well as on-site living conditions. 

A mediator had been working with both sides since May to help reach an agreement.

Vote results expected week of September 5

Reached on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the United Steelworkers said the union could not comment on any details of the agreement in principle before it was presented to its members.

A spokesperson for Glencore Group, the natural resource company that Raglan Mine is part of, also said they could not comment on agreement details “out of respect for all parties.”

The union is holding meetings throughout Quebec this week to present the agreement in principle to its members and allow them to vote.

The results are expected the week of September 5.

Raglan is a fly-in, fly-out mine on the Ungava Peninsula located between the communities of Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq.

It has 1,200 employees. Of those, 20 per cent are Inuit.

Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca

Related stories from around the North: 

Canada: Canadian government says it can’t approve emergency request from Arctic mine, CBC News

SwedenUN experts call on Sweden to halt mining project on Indigenous Sami land, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn is an award-winning journalist and manages Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic news cooperation project. Eilís has reported from the Arctic regions of all eight circumpolar countries and has produced numerous documentary and multimedia series about climate change and the issues facing Indigenous peoples in the North.

Her investigative report "Death in the Arctic: A community grieves, a father fights for change," about the murder of Robert Adams, a 19-year-old Inuk man from Arctic Quebec, received the silver medal for “Best Investigative Article or Series” at the 2019 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. The project also received an honourable mention for excellence in reporting on trauma at the 2019 Dart Awards in New York City.

Her report “The Arctic Railway: Building a future or destroying a culture?” on the impact a multi-billion euro infrastructure project would have on Indigenous communities in Arctic Europe was a finalist at the 2019 Canadian Association of Journalists award in the online investigative category.

Her multimedia project on the health challenges in the Canadian Arctic, "Bridging the Divide," was a finalist at the 2012 Webby Awards.

Her work on climate change in the Arctic has also been featured on the TV science program Découverte, as well as Le Téléjournal, the French-Language CBC’s flagship news cast.

Eilís has worked for media organizations in Canada and the United States and as a TV host for the Discovery/BBC Worldwide series "Best in China."

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