THE STRIKE IS OVER

MULLAN – The longest mining strike in Silver Valley history has finally ended after 1,030 days.

By a vote of 86 ‘for’ to 78 ‘against,’ miners of the United Steelworkers Union 5114 have accepted a proposed labor contract agreed upon by their negotiation committee and Hecla Mining Company.

“We’re pleased to have the strike behind us,” Luke Russell, Hecla’s vice president of External Affairs said. “Now the work will be to transition the workers back on a schedule that meets our production needs.”

This latest contract accepted by the union was the second attempt to get an official agreement made in less than a month.

On Dec. 16, the USW 5114 membership narrowly rejected another tentative agreement by 9 votes. Shortly following that first vote, both negotiation committees met again in a last-ditch effort to get another proposal out to the miners before the new year.

On Dec. 24, the union then released several documents explaining that a new agreement had been reached. Based on those documents, the language in the second passed agreement remained largely unchanged to the previous one that was rejected. The only difference between the two was language that flushed out work accommodations for returning workers.

For more information on what was in that first agreement (and mostly the second), check out the News-Press story here or visit www.hecla-mining.com.

With the strike in the rear view mirror, attention will now turn to getting the Lucky Friday Mine fully up and running again.

Hecla President and CEO Phillips S. Baker Jr. has stated previously that the goal was to get the mine back to full production by the end of 2020 (with or without the union labor).

With the USW 5114 workforce returning, Russell is hopeful that it will be even sooner.

“There (needs to be) a mine inspection that was part of the agreement,” he said. “We’ll be sending out return letters that will be based on our needs at the mine. The first folks might be back at the end of the month, some in February and most in the late first-quarter.”

Based on the active roster, Hecla hopes to have close to 200 of the initial 260 miners back to work– but the numbers could fluctuate.

“We’re sure others have moved on, but we’re hopeful that most come back.”

USW 5114 president Dave Roose could not be reached for comment.