Vale and Steelworkers Local 6500 have renewed their existing contract for one year as a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Voting on the tentative agreement, which was announced Wednesday, will be done electronically by members. Polls are scheduled to close on April 23 and the result should be known by 5 p.m.

Local 6500 represents 2,400 production and maintenance workers at the company’s Sudbury operations.

The deal also covers Local 6200 members who work at Vale’s Port Colborne operations.

“The one-year renewal will allow us to focus our attention on the health and safety of our members and their families during the COVID-19 crisis,” the union said in a statement Wednesday. “It will also provide the necessary time and space for the appropriate attention to bargaining to take place when we return to a more normal operating state.

“Given the need for social distancing, Local 6500 members will be asked to vote on the tentative agreement electronically. Local 6500 members will receive a mail out addressed to their home within the next few days. This mail out will include the contract highlights and a unique PIN number allowing members to vote either online or over the phone. Please keep an eye out for your information package over the next few days.”

The current five-year agreement expires on May 31.

The tentative agreement, if ratified, would be in effect from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021.

“We are not sharing the contract highlights until our members receive them,” said Local 6500 President Nick Larochelle.

In a letter to its members, Local 6500 said the pandemic made bargaining difficult, noting the uncertainty of bargaining, combined with the pandemic, “adds another layer of anxiety for everyone involved …

“As the global crisis continues to escalate and we are faced with uncertainty,” the union wrote, “continuing negotiations without knowing when the COVID-19 pandemic will end, impedes our ability to bargain effectively.”

The current agreement, which was ratified in May 2015 — one month before the previous one was to expire — included improvements in language for the grievance process, a one per cent wage hike in the first year, a one cent per hour wage hike in years two and three, a two-and-a-half cent per hour wage increase in the fourth year, and a 1.5 per cent wage hike in the fifth year. A $4,500 signing bonus was also issued upon ratification.

Vale officials were unavailable for comment on the tentative agreement.

The company remains Sudbury’s largest employer, with almost 4,000 workers that work at five mines, a mill, a smelter and a refinery.

Vale has continued to operate in Sudbury, although is has shuttered its Voisey’s Bay operations in response to the pandemic.

hcarmichael@postmedia.com

Twitter: @HaroldCarmichae