Strike up the band (of silver)

North Idaho could get some very good news soon.

It’s OK to report good news, isn’t it?

After two and a half mostly acrimonious years, Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining Co. and leaders of United Steelworkers Union 5114 have struck gold. That is, the famous Lucky Friday silver mine near Mullan might soon see the end of a prolonged strike.

It’s about time.

In fact, it’s way past time — but at this point, that doesn’t matter.

What matters is that union workers are voting this month to accept or refuse the tentative agreement reached by the negotiating committees. In our view, the agreement goes above and beyond to ensure workers’ needs are being met. While all of the strike settlement agreement and other supporting information is posted on the company’s website (https://www.hecla-mining.com), the committees addressed, among other items, medical premiums, overtime and holiday pay, work assignment progression through training that would lead to higher pay rates, plus an adjustment to ensure all workers earn wages as high or higher than they did under the previous contract.

There’s more. Workers will receive credit for time on strike for seniority purposes, and they’ll all receive a $1,000 ratification bonus, even if they choose not to come back to work. Merry Christmas!

Thanks to the involvement of a federal mediator who helped find common ground between the two sides, ground gained at times through meetings at Spokane International Airport, Hecla wins the biggest prize of all: A talented workforce that will get the Lucky Friday back into full production.

This is a huge issue for the Silver Valley, which would benefit tremendously from seeing more than 200 miners — many of whom earn six-figure annual pay — go back to work. It also would put gas into one of the region’s best and longest running economic engines.

Hecla is the longest-operating Coeur d’Alene business at 128 years old. Second longest is the newspaper you’re holding in your hand (127 years old).

In the five years leading up to the strike, the Lucky Friday pumped more than $800 million into the local region’s economy. The best news is that Hecla estimates there’s a good 20 or more years left in that deep mine capable of producing 3 million or more silver ounces annually.

The Press would like to congratulate all the parties in finding that common ground, which gives both sides — and all the rest of us — plenty of reason to celebrate. It’s our hope that union workers will feel the same way and ratify the agreement this month.

After all this time, wasted production and general anxiety, this is no time to blow it.

Let’s get back to work, folks.