RE: RE: Re rE today'sNR. At one time in history, unions were needed to level the playing field between workers and employers. Unions were needed to cure the grossly unfair treatment of the workers insofar as working conditions, safety, wages, hours of work per day, etc. To the union's credit, they straightened things out. But like all semi-government types of organizations, they got greedy. Ridiculous contract terms ( as mentioned in the previous post) put choke holds on company profits, thus reducing some companies to second-rate companies that could not financially expand and grow, install safe standards, etc., etc. Some companies went broke, and everyone lost -- investors, companies, workers, local governments (taxes) , and communities. When a union fails to honor a contract by deciding mid-stream to demand higher pay before a contract expires, well, it's no better than a govenrment deciding to raise taxes, or extend the cash-out date for your savings plan, or reducing your medical benefits that you signed up for when you were 18.
Also, during the time when unions were needed, there WERE good companies and good employers who wanted to grow and decided to pay a good wage for a workforce ( Henry Ford?) . There are good companies yet today, that pay well, provide benefits, etc. and have a STABLE workforce. Excellon is in a position become (are you listening Mr. Crossgrove??) to become a GREAT company with the recent discovery that could make it a titan. Instead of draining funds on legal brushfires, it would seem to me, that it would benefit all concerned to pay the workers an excellent wage, offer yearly bonus or profit-sharing, when the Elephant starts to really generate riches. If done in a common-sense manner with dialog between worker and management, the greater percentage of the workforce will WANT to work for Excellon. The small percentage of the work force who are greedy and demand more could just leave and try to find a better job in the region.
In the present situation, I am for Excellon sticking to the current contract and defending that choice. Once it expires, then I hope Mr Crossgrove will by then have gathered enough information from the land owners, comunity, workers, etc. to either re-negotiate new contracts with unions, or abolish the unions and take the second road and become the best employer in the region.
In the meanwhile, I will continue to buy shares of Excellon.
As Always, Best of Luck
Alchemist7