N.W.T. diamond mine sale won’t affect unionized workers

The contract covering unionized workers at Ekati will stand if Harry Winston buys the Northwest Territories diamond mine.

Earlier this week, Harry Winston announced it intends to purchase BHP Billiton's diamond assets for $500 million US.

Under the deal, BHP Billiton's employees working at Ekati and in Yellowknife will join Harry Winston. Ekati, Canada’s first diamond mine, is 310 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife.

"We've been able to confirm through that review that the...existing terms and conditions of the collective agreement that is in force today will remain in force under the new owner-operator," said Todd Parsons, president of the Union of Northern Workers.

Parsons said when BHP Billiton announced last year it was thinking of selling its diamond business, the union, representing 350 workers at the mine, looked at an ownership change would affect the union contract.

The agreement includes protocols that must be followed if there are layoffs.

Parsons said the union has yet to talk to Harry Winston officials about their plans for the mine.

Some people in the mining industry say it’s possible Harry Winston may integrate operations with nearby Diavik, of which Winston owns a 40 per cent share.

John Cummings, the editor in chief of the newspaper, The Northern Miner, said any decisions about integration likely won’t happen until after Rio Tinto’s stake in Diavik is sold.

Rio Tinto, which controls Diavik, is conducting the same kind of review that led to BHP-Billiton's sale of Ekati. Employees at that mine are not unionized.

Harry Winston's deal to buy Ekati mine is expected to be finalized in two months.

If the company does take control of Ekati, it will have some work to do to live up to the socio-economic agreement in place with the territorial government.

Under the agreement, BHP-Billiton committed to not paying the airfare of employees flying in from outside the territory. But jets loaded with employees from southern Canada have been flying from Edmonton to the mine for years.

At one time BHP charged employees for what was, theoretically at least, the southern portion of that trip.

But the territorial government said employees from southern Canada have been getting free flights to the mine for years.

"There was a cost that was transferred to employees travelling from the south to the mine site. We don't believe that's been the case in recent years," said Diana Beck, who is part of the government team that monitors compliance with the agreement.

Ministers from three territorial government departments will be discussing that failure to meet the terms of the agreement at a meeting with mine executives next month.