Striking workers at a Vale Inco nickel mine in Sudbury have taken their fight against the miner to Ontario’s Labour Relations Board. The board is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal designed to mediate labour disputes in the province. In July, thousands of workers at the Brazilian mining conglomerate’s Sudbury operations walked off the job. At the start of October, the company restarted some operations with replacement workers. The company reopened its Sudbury-area operations using non-union staff in October. United Steelworkers lawyer Rob Healy told the board the company has undercut the union’s capacity to enforce a strike by forcing some non-striking members to do the work of picketing employees. Vale Inco said about 50 workers have been asked to fill in while other employees are on strike. They say they have the right to replace striking employees however they can, including using non-striking union members. The union has also taken its fight against the miner to Europe. A union delegation organized protests in Germany and Sweden, urging Vale customers to cease doing business with the firm until the labour dispute ends.