Hecla Management, Shareholders Learn about International Solidarity at Annual Meeting

Hecla Mining may have moved its annual shareholders meeting to Vancouver, B.C., this year to escape calls for the company to negotiate in good faith with USW Local 5114 for a fair contract at its Lucky Friday mine in Mullan, Idaho, but a delegation of dedicated activists made certain they got an earful.

About 260 members of Local 5114 have been on strike over Hecla Mining’s unfair labor practices since March 13, 2017, after working for 11 months under the terms and conditions of an expired previous contract.

In the days leading up to the shareholders meeting in Vancouver, a delegation of Local 5114 members brought the labor dispute to the attention of Lucky Friday's major customer, Teck Resources in Trail, B.C., where workers are represented by USW Locals 9705 and Local 480 in USW District 3.

The strike delegation met with brothers and sisters from the two Teck locals to discuss the unfair labor practice strike at Lucky Friday, distributed handbills about the labor dispute and built solidarity within and between our unions.

Prior to the shareholders meeting, the delegation from Mullan also participated in a solidarity event hosted by the members of USW Local 2009 in Langley, B.C.

USW District 12 Director Bob LaVenture thanked USW District 3 Director Stephen Hunt along with staff and union members who supported our efforts throughout British Columbia during the week.

“The leadership, staff and members in District 3 showed outstanding solidarity to support us in our fight for fairness and justice at Lucky Friday,” he said. “We’re truly strongest when we stand together.”

Finally, in Vancouver, on May 25, 2017, close to 50 union brothers and sisters from Canada, members of Los Mineros from Mexico and the Local 5114 delegation from the United States rallied outside Hecla's shareholder meeting to show international solidarity and demonstrate the power of unity.

LaVenture and several members of Local 5114 attended the meeting, and despite management’s efforts to limit or downplay discussion of the unfair labor practice strike at Lucky Friday, Hecla’s top executives were forced to answer for management’s poor handling of the ongoing contract negotiations.

A member of the corporate board of directors even had to defend CEO Phillips Baker’s compensation increase from 2015-2016, and others expressed their sincere hope that we reach a fair contract at Lucky Friday.

In addition to Lucky Friday, Hecla has operations in Alaska, Québec and Mexico. No matter what happens in the coming days or weeks, Hecla’s executives should understand that we are committed to working through our issues at the bargaining table and have the support of the international labor community to fight as long as it takes.

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