Natuashish misses payroll for employees

Employees of an Innu band in northern Labrador are struggling financially after the band failed to meet its payroll obligations.

Workers in Natuashish say this is the second week in a row that they have not been paid.

Addictions counsellor Rose Poker said she knew something was wrong last Wednesday when her weekly paycheque did not show up in her bank account.

The same thing happened again this week, which Poker said has caused distress in numerous households in the coastal community.

"It's really hard for me because I have kids. I'm a single mother and I don't have groceries right now," she told CBC News.

"I kept asking from family and friends and they barely have anything too."

Poker said when she contacted her employer, she was told cheques issued by the band had bounced.

"There's always a different story, but we haven't heard from the band leaders yet," she said.

Band chief Simeon Tshakapesh declined CBC's request for a formal interview, but said "minor stuff was happening" and that the situation was "all taken care of now."

Tshakapesh, who was re-elected chief in April by just a nine-vote margin, said employees should be paid by Thursday. Before hanging up, he added, "I've got nothing to say to CBC."

Mark Nui, a former Innu Nation leader, does not buy the explanation that a minor issue was causing the cash flow problem.

Nui said a financial crisis has been brewing for months at the Natuashish band office, which is the community's main employer.

"A lot of it has to do with not really looking at what the budgets are and not really waiting for the money to come in from the funding sources and as a result the council had over spent," Nui said.

Since relocating from Davis Inlet in 2002, the Innu of Natuashish have faced periods of tumultuous leadership, but workers were still paid.

Nui said he fears if the financial problems extend to the creditors that stock the band-owned store, the flow of supplies such as food and fuel will stop.