Nickel prices forcing mining companies to streamline, but no layoffs yet

Mining companiesare streamliningas the price of nickel continues to underperform, the president of the Sudbury and District Labour Council says, but he's heard no plans for layoffs.

Nickel futures weretrading at just under $4 US a poundWednesday morning, compared to an all-time high of $20 a pound in mid-2008.

• Nickel prices continue to plummet

Jamie West, who is also a steelworker at Vale, sayslabour and management at the two big mining companiesin Sudbury have been talking about how to cope with the low base metal prices.

West says Vale has reassured workers it has no current plans to lay off any workers.

"The people who manage the work are very focused on keeping us employed, all of us employed," West said. "There's a lot of focus on streamlining and ensuring that we're not wasting anything."

West said he's heard no plans for layoffs at Glencore either.

"We're fortunate, with the two largest mining companies in town, that potentially they're large enough to weather this stuff."