International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers issued the following announcement on June 19.

Canadian General Vice President Stan Pickthall makes a point of conducting at least 50 site visits per year to meet with our membership in their workplaces. He has flown from coast to coast to coast to meet with the members but his recent visit to Flin Flon, Manitoba, the term face-to-face, took on a whole new meaning. The first day of his two-day visit to the Hud Bay mining facilities consisted of touring the above-ground facilities like the smelter, but the second day, he descended 1.5 kilometers below the surface to meet with members at Mine 777.

Left to right – IAM Local Lodge 1848 Vice President Ryan Hassel, IAM Local Lodge 1848 President Rene Beauchamp.

‘This was a new experience for me, dropping down 1.5 kilometers through solid rock to an entirely different world,” said Pickthall. “The enormity of the equipment down here and just the atmosphere, the pace of the work, it’s truly impressive. You start talking to members about their job and what they do and you have to stop yourself and remember, you’re in a mine, you’re underground and it’s really not like any other workplace. I know our members are used to it, but this is a site visit I won’t soon forget.”

Original source: http://www.iamaw.ca/this-site-visit-went-underground/