MULLAN, Idaho — After union members rejected a tentative agreement to return to work at Lucky Friday mine in North Idaho, the company that runs the mine said it will hire more employees.
In a news release on Monday, the company said it is “committed to bringing the mine back to full production,” adding that it will increase the hiring of both non-union employees and contractors.
Phillip S. Baker, president and CEO of Hecla Mining, said the company’s goal is for the mine to reach full production by the end of 2020.
“While we would have preferred ratification of the agreement reached by the two negotiating committees, after three years of negotiating we believe the best interests of the company and community is the Lucky Friday in full operation. The mine has operated for 75 years, and we believe its best days with projected higher grades and more cash flow, are in front of it,” Baker wrote in a statement.
The company has employed both hourly and salaried workers for much of 2019 to operate the mine on a limited basis, Baker said.
Members of the United Steel Workers 5114 Union voted Monday afternoon to reject the latest offer from Hecla. It failed by just nine votes, continuing the two-and-a-half-year strike.
Hecla Mining Company, which operates the Lucky Friday silver mine in Mullan, Idaho, announced in November that that negotiating committees between the company and the miners’ union had reached a tentative agreement to end the strike.
The agreement then headed to the roughly 250 members of the USW 5114, which is headquartered in Mullan, Idaho.
KREM 2 has been told some miners have since moved out of the Silver Valley to take other jobs. A union representative said they'll now go back to negotiating with Hecla.
The miners voted to strike in 2017 following an impasse between the union and Hecla over contract negotiations. At the time, USW 5114 accused Hecla of proposing unfair labor practices.
Notably, miners took issue with proposed changes to work schedules, benefits and other factors, including a bidding system that allowed senior miners to pick work teams and bid on work assignments. Hecla at the time had said that the changes were necessary to keep Lucky Friday profitable and that the bid system was outdated.