The transition of Birchtree Mine to care and maintenance status, which began in the last few days of September and officially got underway Oct. 2, didn't affect as many employees as previously estimated and no one will be laid off until the end of the year but the effects will still be felt.
The last day of mucking at Birchtree was Sept. 27 and the last hoist day was Sept. 30, when an event to commemorate the occasion was held for employees, their families and dignitaries such as Mayor Dennis Fenske, Thompson MLA Kelly Bindle, Vale Manitoba Operations vice-president Mark Scott and United Steelworkers Local 6166 president Les Ellsworth, said corporate affairs, organizational design and human resources manager Ryan Land. The last day of September also saw the ceremonial last truck of ore roll out of the mine and the first care and maintenance shift was Oct. 2. About 60 employees will work on asset recovery until November and the mine will be on care and maintenance as of Dec. 31, after which will it will employ only six workers.
"Of the 200 roles affected by the placement of Birchtree Mine on care and maintenance, fewer than 70 layoff notices were issued based on seniority, and these have since been extended to Dec. 31," said Land. "We were able to significantly reduce the number through a retirement incentive initiative, ongoing work with USW 6166 to identify other opportunities, and by filling vacancies. The Birchtree employees are either retiring, are participating in the care and maintenance preparation, or have been assigned to other plants."
USW Local 6166 president Les Ellsworth said 94 employees had taken a retirement incentive package overall and that others had left for other reasons.
"Currently we have not laid off anybody in the Manitoba division, that will happen late December, but there was enough people that have taken retirement incentives, some went through attrition, some quit, some were terminated and we avoided a layoff of 140 members," he said. Still, the loss of jobs at Birchtree will still be felt. "It's still 140 jobs gone, 200 with staff, and they're not replaced, they're gone, so economy-wise for the city and the province and federal too, I guess that's a lot of tax dollars that have left us."
Land said most of the employees who will be laid off as a result of the suspension of mining at Birchtree work in the smelter and refinery, which will shut down permanently next year, because that is where most of Manitoba Operations' least senior and most recently hired employees work.
"Despite the reduction in the number affected, we recognize that this is a challenging time for these employees and their families, and we will continue to work with and support employees through the joint Vale-USW 6166 Workforce Adjustment Committee and Thompson 2020," said Land.
"I still have hope with it being on care and maintenance which means they haven't shut it down," said Ellsworth. "In other words, they haven't flooded the shaft and they have a commitment for at least two years to keep it on care and maintenance so I've still got hopes that if the price of nickel was to go up there's a possibility it would reopen because there's still some good ore bodies. Our goal, certainly, as the union, is to continue to work with Vale and hopefully one day see Birchtree open up again."
