"Union votes to continue Lucky Friday miner strike in Mullan, Idaho", 17 December 2019

Union members voted Monday afternoon to reject the latest offer from the Hecla Mining Company Monday afternoon.

The vote failed by just nine votes and miners will continue the two and a half year long strike. Almost 190 miners could vote and 157 ballots were mailed back to the union.

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 United Steel Workers 5114 Union, which is headquartered in Mullan...

... A union rep 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Hecla at the time had said that the changes were necessary to keep Lucky Friday profitable and that the bid system was outdated...