by Nancy Gardiner
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 19/97) - A territorial-wide job bank is in the works to link up workers with employers.

The NWT Construction Association in conjunction with the Department of Human Resources Development has 120 workers registered in a database so far.

The association is also seeking a variety of employers from the construction trades, suppliers, service industries and mining sector.

A national software program has been modified to suit the North, with data on aboriginal descent. It also incorporates willingness of workers to go to mine sites.

It springs from a mining symposium last fall, where people indicated a need to know where the jobs are, and employers wanted to know where people with certain skills are, says Dick Bushey of the NWT Construction Association.

A one-page resume is entered into the department's "connector" system. Workers are encouraged to fill out an application form through the construction association office or they can fax them in.

The available inventory of trained workers ranges from skilled to semi-skilled. They include: carpenters and their helpers, electricians, steel and re-bar workers, welders, surveyor helpers, mason helpers, mechanic helpers, camp cooks, truck drivers, heavy equipment operators, firefighters, expeditors, warehouse workers, computer service technicians, data entry operators, security guards, underground laborers, roofers and carpet installers, records managers, clerical staff and general laborers.

Bushey will assist in trying to set up an affiliate office in Nunavut.

Job creation training and employment programs have many benefits, reducing unemployment, raising the skill level of workers and encouraging employers to hire northerners, says Bushey.

Several GNWT capital projects in communities are about to be awarded and the next phase of the BHP diamond construction project has begun.

So, the association is trying to contact prospective employers to hire youth and others who may be available.