Teck Resources said on Wednesday it has received strike notice at its Highland Valley Copper operations in British Columbia from United Steelworkers Local 7619. The notice entitles the union to begin strike action on October 24 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time at the earliest. Operations continue, and Teck said contingency plans are in place to maintain safety and environmental management during any labour action.
The union’s account is harder edged. Local 7619 said the 72 hour notice was served on Tuesday evening after negotiations concluded without agreement, that all 944 members who voted in the strike mandate ballot backed strike action, and that the company had presented a revised monetary offer and withdrawn one concession while other concession demands remained. Local president Kyle Wolff said members want a fair deal and are prepared to act to get one. The local represents about 1,200 workers at the mine near Logan Lake, about 50 kilometres southwest of Kamloops.
The collective agreement expired on September 30. Both sides say bargaining can continue during the notice period, and the union said it remains available to negotiate, so a walkout on Saturday is a deadline rather than a certainty.
The asset matters beyond Teck. Highland Valley is a large open pit copper and molybdenum operation, and Teck’s mine life extension is designed to keep it operating from 2028 through 2046 at average annual copper production of about 132,000 tonnes. A prolonged stoppage would remove Canadian concentrate from a market where copper fell 2.22 percent in the latest market tables even as treatment capacity stays tight, and it would land while Teck’s portfolio is under strategic scrutiny. The next signal is whether talks resume before the October 24 deadline.