Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 13/00) - Fifteen workers are scheduled to lose their jobs with Miramar Giant Mine Ltd. this month.

On Oct. 10 the workers received a notice stating that on Oct. 25 their positions will be terminated as the result of restructuring and the completion of seasonal work at the Giant Mine site.

"A number of our seasonal activities ended," said Miramar vice-president Brian Labadie from Vancouver.

Some of the layoffs came from workers hired to work at the water treatment plant, the others were miners who were mining in an expanded area which proved no longer feasible for Miramar, Labadie said.

"In June and July we opened up another (underground) level but we shut it down," said Labadie.

He added that Miramar would continue to mine their original zone.

Canadian Autoworkers Local 2304 plant chair Steve Petersen said the union is in the process of filing a grievance with the company.

"We have a problem with their seniority," said Petersen.

According to Miramar, once they received ownership of Giant Mine and re-hired worker's seniority started at zero.

According to Petersen, this is a way of skirting the collective agreement when it comes to severance packages. Because the workers were rehired less than a year ago, no workers received a severance package.

"We have a problem with Miramar picking and choosing what parts of the agreement to adhere to," said Petersen.

He said there won't be a decision on their grievance until after Nov. 24, the union's deadline to respond to the company's answer.

Some of the workers were surprised by the layoffs.

"The miners thought the company needed the manpower to cover sick-days and vacation leaves," said Petersen.

"Right now they have around 37 workers down there."

Miramar management doesn't expect any more layoffs in the near future. The current layoffs are the result of business realities.

"It's really not anything huge, it's the seasonal aspect to the work," said Labadie. "That's the way it goes."