Teck Resources Limited has reached a tentative agreement with union negotiators to end a two month strike in the Elkview metallurgical coal mine. Located in western Canada the Teck Resources owned mine is the largest of the six coal mines owned by the company.
The agreement was reached on Friday with the local chapter of the United Steelworkers of America regarding the mining operations at its Elkview Mine in British Columbia. The mine has a production capacity of 5.6 million tonnes a year. The proposal will be ratified by a union vote and should be accepted by April 7, 2011.
The union had previously rejected a proposal on March 15, 2011 which included a tentative five year contract for the workers. Teck Resources said that further discussions held with Vince Ready as a mediator had helped them progress to the current settlement proposal. If the memorandum of settlement is ratified, the production at the mine will resume by April 8, 2011.
More than 700 union workers had walked out of the mine at the end of January when negotiations to resolve retiree benefits, and company contributions to the retirement plan were not solved. The open pit mine in the Rocky Mountains also has Nippon Steel Corp and South Korean steelmaker Posco as minority stake holders in the mine.