Vale-Inco strike heats up

[mikequenn]

What else do you expect from a Cocain Cartel!!!!!!!!

[DTNorthern]

my support goes to all workers striking in sudbury. i work in a non union mine but understand that your hard work and sacrifices when you go on strike affects the wages of EVERYONE in the mining industry so keep up the good work guys and I appreciate what you're doing for me!

[rollsthepaul]

The view of the world is for slaves and elite and a wannabe minion class and that is going on everywhere. Getting pissed off is a start but an organized plan must be implemented. Canada isn't open for business, it is up for sale. Equality of pain means everyone gets screwed. We can all hold hands and cry but our government views the workers as collateral damage and they are on the side of the international corporate players. They're betting the workers will cave in; well boys, will you?

[toast729]

Money hungry? We are all money hungry, if we all weren't why the strike.

Look, the thing stinks. Vale offered a shit deal and has been reluctant to get back to the table. The 6500 have tried to use emotion to make their point. It is all BS. I don't agree with unions, the auto industry has proved the wate and ineffectiveness of unions in the 21 st century, but I certainly don't envy them and feel they are gettinga raw deal. Not the deal itself, but the fact they can't get to the table.

[mhoney83]

this is bull shit..get those inco workers back to work so i can have a decent job! because the miners are on strike, i am suffering too..and the town is sufferent yet there are box stores being built..condo's being built and apt buildings being set up...like wtf?

[SniperViper1000]

You guys are all ready replaced. Sudbury isn't a Nickel Giant hasn't been since the 90's. The banks are pissed get a new job and stop suffering. Pay those bills and give yoursefl and your family a Christmas.

[weazz]

@SniperViper1000

The banks are pissed? you mean the same criminals who are robbing the world blind through "stimulus" bills? Doesn't matter if they are the giant or not, the thing is these are companies and governments who don't care about human rights.

[whoistracii]

"On August 14, 2006 Brazilian mining company CVRD extended an all-cash offer to buy Inco for $17 billion. That offer received approval from the Canadian government's investment review agency on October 19, and was accepted by Inco shareholders on October 23."

The main reason why Inco was sold to Brazil was because of the individuals in the stock market. My sister is currently becoming a Mining Engineer and she can't even get experience. What do you expect from people who are money hungry.

[levac88]

tony clement is the biggest piece of shit .. and we shoulda never sold it to vale .. TONY YOUR A PIECE..fuckin moron

[matthickey1987]

Keep fighting the good fight guys! Globalization is shit.

[TheValtin]

, because these gentlemen want profits and they do not bind pra lives human beings, the human being pra they is dismissable.

[TheValtin]

If this people were capable to construct to a better world they already would have fact, then because they need as much agglomeration and wealth and do not have no good idea, pra to guarantee resources pra to make its airplanes of wars or its satellites that vendem medias and prostitution for the world not these gentlemen, had not yet obtained gararntias with these recuros that a meteor tomorrow falls in the land and destroys all resources and the main a life human being,

[62mm62]

Just look at what they are doing in coal in australia

[TheValtin]

el bebé ata la vista

[TheValtin]

One remembers that this was stolen of the Brazilian people its sweat and its histories of construction, and vendido the price of bananas and cpi they had been hindered to analizar the gratitude forms that had for Mr. FHC, some type to pay campnhas, this age patrimony I publish.

[alimakjames]

Good job on the news, I like it better then the bullshit on mctv.

[alexsimic]

Command and Control economic principals have worked so well in the Soviet Union. Why not try it here.

[jetshull]

marin katusa, he has his opinion, prolly bought out.

[ccsmine41]

Billie B......you are one heartless "prick" ! Bet you were a cheer leader in high school.

[redlight2424]

fuck you billie piece of shit wish you hell in your live mother fucker

[redlight2424]

billie bob fuck you you asshole.

[relicupnorth]

HEY that's Napolean Dynamite narrating!

[ccsmine41]

Is it time to claim ownership of those ore reserves? The worker's struggle in Sudbury has gone on long enough! It smells like fascism and you are feeling the shaft!

[y2kxj]

if it tastes like shit, feel like shit and taste like shit well your in a shit storm.. good luck guys...

[chemytiger]

solidarity forever!

[boomer166]

If it wasn't for unions, we and our children would still be working as virtual slaves for a very select few, ultra wealthy individuals. The more we collectively unionize, the better it is for "ALL" working class people. If corporations dealt fairly with their workers, unions would not be needed; but that is not the case, and never has been.

Unfortunately, we will always have uninformed working class people decrying how bad unions are, even as they reap the benefits unions have provided.

[derrickchartrand]

It's unfortunate that people like BillieBobSmith (self-proclaimed CEO and Owner) open replies by calling others idiots when they themselves come off as uneducate pompous jerks.

Let's all be clear that the entire purpose of a union is for its workers to stand together in order protect their workers.

[derrickchartrand]

UNIONS DO NOT: -Protect the weak, they protect those who choose to unite together; thus forming a union.

UNIONS DO NOT: -Suck the profit and life out of companies, they provide an equal playing field so that corporations (mainly their owners and CEOs) don't suck the life out of its workers.

UNIONS ARE NOT: -Communism and non-workers. This sentence of yours does not even make sense and I can't justify replying to it.

[derrickchartrand]

BillieBob, I hope you're not an owner or CEO who has anything to do with Vale INCO because as a company, I'd be embarassed by someone like you for posting anything at all. Your close-mindness, arrogance and just pure ignorance would fascinate me if you did anything more than bitch and bark orders for eight hours daily.

[derrickchartrand]

Unions did not and are not destroying the healthcare system. Sectors like healthcare, which represent having a greater good for everybody, should never be privatized. The same could be said for education. Privatizing these parts of society would just add the growing separation of social classes.

[SniperViper1000]

No, but the USW jsut fucked over the miners. So ALOT of them didn't get christmas.

[derrickchartrand]

In closing, no Canadian would ever argue that we are suffering more than third-world countries. When middle-class Canadians argue that they are suffering, it is in relation to our own social status in our country, not globally. It would be ridiculous for us to compare ourselves to starving nations.

[derrickchartrand]

The only reason that poorer countries are suffering is because of privatization and the powerful finances put into the hands of a few CEOs and Owners (Only in those countries, CEOs and Owners are referred to as tyrants, dictators, authoritarians and opressors). So no, 'Canadians are not a bunch of spoiled brats who don't understand hard work', you are just a dull benighted individual who can't understand appreciation for hard work.

[JustMe0705]

Whoever says unions protect the lazy are idiots. I'm a healthcare worker and work my a@$ off and I am protected by a union.

You should go try working in the mines or in healthcare. Then you would see just how unlazy these workers are.

[yo1dude1man]

And that's why our economy is COLLAPSING!

All your points you just presented mark the sharp drop of the MIDDLE-CLASS and a massive shift of wealth to the UPPER 5%.

And you're good with that?

It's the Middle-Class that drives our economy period. Not the Rich. The rich won't go by thousands of refrigerators, vehicles, homes, cloths but the middle-class will.

NO THIS! It's people like you that blindly support the destruction of our once great nation. Death to the middle-class = death of America!

[TVACdotCA]

The lazy neo-cons posting anti-union jabs on this video are truly hypocrites. Neo-cons spend all their time destroying lives and blaming others. Unions are needed, now more than ever. These unionized workplaces are highly productive, filled with skilled workers who work very hard and have invested 10-30 years into these brutal companies. Fire the CEOs and make them pay for their bad management. Stop attacking hard working Canadians and Americans who have a right to decent pay and pension.

[bawbawbla]

What we didn't see is the luxery sedans all of those workers drove to the picket line in. Sure much be awful to make as much as a doctor in Canada with a 10th grade education and your job is to drive a truck. Boy I wonder why Vale thinks their bonus is too much money.

[chemytiger]

Tony Clement is a liar. The right wing conservatives are supporting union busting, privatization, private health care, lower paying jobs, no pensions, no benefits, no seniority rights etc...Trouble is brewing already and the rich Brazilians who are used to running 3rd world country workers, are in for a surprise in Sudbury. Solidarity!

[MrJuice180]

BillieBobSmith u are for sure an uneducated lazy demanding cancer and to say the union has lazy uneducated workforce LOL.... unions have some of the best workers in the world and always will not high school drops outs like you.

[ayrtonsenna75]

The union members at ValeINCO in Sudbury have lots of highschool dropouts and perhaps one of the laziest ones around. So i don't know what you're talking about.

[ayrtonsenna75]

Unions protect the lazy.

[MrJuice180]

you are goin to get lazy people at every job, I worked for the union in thompson and in voiseys bay, they majority get the job done.

[ayrtonsenna75]

And the lazy don't last long unless you're part of a union. Believe me i used to work both underground and above at INCO. I was a member of the local 6500. Majority of them are lazy. And it's the lazy ones that are always whining and complaining. I don't miss it one fuckin' bit!

[sirellyn]

You guys don't really understand how things are linked together. Prices for many commodities have been repressed, and this is largely from banks, central banks governments offering cheap loans and inflating money.

Every time money is loaned or created from nothing, people can with no work acquire something for "free" that others worked for. This further depressed by naked shorts. Gold for example costs more to mine than it's current price. Many metals do.

[CescoPisicoli]

Why do you say gold costs more to mine then what it's priced??

[walkwalkslow]

Yeah, cut those costs, while people arms and heads get cut off.

Thank the gods for The Real News for bring the coverage the pussified, flaccid, facade known as major networks refuse to get near.

[simonizmtl]

Thx for that new. Iam Canadian and I never heard this story before. Multinational control all our live. Wake up people.

[PersianPaladin]

Vale was privatized in 1997. If the Brazilian government still ran it; then it would not be doing as much damage and it would be a LOT more political if it ever tried to do so.

[marniespeaks]

cripes end these big corporations!

[marniespeaks]

do what the French do kidnap management

[Daka12s]

to put it in terms even the child can understand its all about making that extra buck milking the cow but not feeding it why feed it when you can replace it =)

[yo1dude1man]

The Canadian Politicians need to find their SPINE.

[observer855]

Real News -This is a great story, in that it contains many disparate issues.

Please continue to follow for us, we will watch with great interest.

[observer855]

Why don't the striking workers just organize and launch their own company?

[PersianPaladin]

The striking workers' will need some form of funding to help facilitate the risks' and capital required to launch their own company. They will also realise that they wont be able to compete with other mining companies when the market is so badly cornered.

[simonizmtl]

You dont understand how the minning compagny works... If they do that, nobody gonna buy their steel... They are like mafia. All the economy is run by criminal. Oil, metal, wood, electricity, food. The little economy is a mirage. The conglomerat rules.

[observer855]

Simoniz,

You don't know what you are talking about. I worked for strategic sourcing for a consumer products company here in the US. We wanted the best prices/quality, period. If a company offered a commodity at a competitive price, we would buy it from them, we couldn't afford not to. I'm sure there is corruption out there, but generally large companies are under too much scrutiny, they would get torn apart if they only sourced there commodoties from certain preordained companies.

[simonizmtl]

Look for one of the biggest cheese producer in north america Saputo. When they start they work with the mafia. If you have a pizzeria and don't buy their mozarrella, Your restaurant burn. They have now 50% of the commercial canadian mozza market with revenu $2bn/yr.

[oilsander1]

Just say NO to foreign ownership.

[skeptic2everything]

agreed

[MNtruthSeeker]

can you spell GREED

[cpgone]

The guy (.15) probably barely graduated high school,

but has hand out for more.

OK, dont use any metal in anything,

Dont support the greedy bastards.

Unplug your computer (full of metals) , walk to the recycle bin and dont turn on the lights when you sell your home (full of metals).

Welcome to globalization

[blackiron60]

It is good that at least some unions are rediscovering the necessity of international solidarity in a globalized world.

[bootleg42]

Hopefully the unions win against these private industry tyrannies.

[PeterSodhi]

Its ok under new laws the US Troops will be coming in to quell the strike. Yes the US Troops are coming to Canada - that is real democracy in action.

[frostwolf1]

Lolwut

[ls1z28chris]

I hope every one of those union asshats starve to death.

[diesel4fr]

your a tool

[bootleg42]

ls1z28chris is a moron.

[MsRedqueen]

I hope the workers hang tough, it's wonderful to see. Too often we've all given up and allowed big business to crush the people that are the ones making them money. Great job guys, you'll win this.

[Renegen1]

Standard Oil also controlled shipping, making it impossible for any other oil company to sell its oil, even if it owned a good patch of land.

[thetimman00]

Monopoly men ane the same around the world. People are there for you to use, and the more of them you can use in your lifetime, the better for you and your successors in the monopoly men line of blood. So give today for this great cause.

[phnixlady]

jobs are not fashionable anymore. The elites are dumping people daily.

[Mojo1982]

Is Vale bigger than Rio Tinto-BHP Biliton?

[theresponderful]

Global mining:

1) BHP

2) Vale

3) Rio Tinto

With the state owned Chinese company likely to eclipse all of them (most likely buy taking control of one of them) in teh near future, unless their governments intervene.

In nickel alone, Vale is number two in the world after Russia's state-owned nickel company. This is really besides the point though, the point is that all of them act the same, the medium is the message, there is very little variation in the game of global capitalism.

[vainamoinen17]

If the workers don't like working I'll take their jobs.

[egolayer13]

Great piece. Please continue to cover the Vale-Inco strike as much as possible. Between covering this strike, the interviews with veteran and retired GM union workers, and the strikes and marches in South America, The Real News has proven themselves to be a network for the working class of North America and the world. Keep creating content like this -- content applicable to *us* -- and we'll keep donating. Thanks again!

[PsyogiBottoms]

I can explain it to you - They are crooks. Duh.

[jamesholder13]

Don't back down, and give Harpy's government hell until they do something.

[Buckhead1959]

If these guys would take up some of the tactics that the miners in West Virginia used when they were on strike then perhaps they'd get some where.

[btigtime2]

What? Things are perfect in Canada. All I ever hear is Canada is the land of milk and honey.

[asperin]

Wow, the Real News Network didn't censor the word SHIT. That's some gangster ass shit!

[Knightshield]

keep fighting!!! don't let those corporate bastards push you around!!

[callieland]

i do not personally know a single person who has been helped by the obama stimulus plan. NOT ONE!

[badger5079]

You are one. Without it, you would have been sucking dicks for bread in Central Park.

[jalexoid]

Look overseas, you will find many. Since they all left for the warm and nice places.

[callieland]

this is the new way of the world. our governments not only wont protect workers but they will actually facilitate the breaking of signed agreements. makes ya wonder what that empty suit got in return for his benedict arnold impression? here in the states we are used to this. we have an administration who cares for only one industry...."financial services"..............obama will wring every dime out of the common man so he can transfer the wealth to his buddies in banking. 24 trillion thus far

[btigtime2]

Unions have their place. Without them we quickly become slaves. I guess Unions need to be globe and have an armed rapid response team.

[callieland]

fight the good fight boys.

[Tokagawa89]

We need a fuckin revolution

[leland61]

Time to bring out the guillotines and clean up the management/ownership class and the traitors in government.

[asperin]

Take government involvement in economics and the management/ownership class cannot get monstrously big like it has.

[jalexoid]

And US is the marvbelously good example of the exact opposite.

[asperin]

I don't know where you live but in the US govt has been growing the private sector has been shrinking.

[jalexoid]

I have no idea about the use, I expect that is has less govt involvement than Denmark, for example, where the "moneybags" were successfully held back - by "penalizing success"(as some US idiots like to express their opinion on progressive taxes)

[asperin]

Well that's wrong, no one should be taxed by a central government, taxation is extortion, is theft, to the rich or to the poor.

The rich become rich using their intellect and today most of them are rich because of patents, "regulations", subsidies and all other Statist interventions.

If the State wasn't in favor of the rich class(rich class controls the State) human action alone would determine the fate of their respective communities.

[jalexoid]

You have hit the nail - the dangerous loop: Money brings power and power brings money.

Last time I checked most of US CEO's are graduates of the elite schools - that implies that they have become what they are due to their parents. That is one of basics of aristocracy and monarchy.

Taxes however are one of the esseintial necessities to even have "a state".

And Americans are the biggest hypocrites I have ever seen in all my travels. With some rare exceptions.

[finanelly1]

fkN hypocritS...fK the U.S.!

[noycie666]

what planet is this guy on?!

workers a small peice of the puzzle?

No workers = no products =

no proffit.

people with the anti-worker mentality have caused the economic crisis

[asperin]

Manual labor is a social taboo.

Don't have a degree? you are a worthless nigger. That's what the sheeple think.

That is why it is up to workers to change things. Government laws wont help them, history shows quite the contrary.

[jalexoid]

That is actually what is beaten down our heads. Everyone all over the world.

[mcamelyne]

The province should take control of the mine. Allowing the mine to close because a company in Brazil wants to improve their profits and pay off their acquisition costs. End the power of the multinationals.

[PersianPaladin]

Gotta love neoliberalist capitalism.

[oldhacks]

a story about northern californias rail train "BART" strike wouldn't hurt

[joshy666]

I've work in mine construction in Sudbury. 8:22 this guy hit the nail on the head, the amount of ore and variety of ore is astonishing.

[KrasnayaArmada]

Feels so hopeless :(