Inuvik (June 23/03) - Mackenzie-Delta communities say reduced hours for power plant superintendents will affect recruitment and retention.

Last month, the NWT Power Corporation told six operators stationed in Fort Good Hope, Tuktoyaktuk, Deline, Tulita, Sachs Harbour and Tsiigehtchic that their work weeks would be cut from 40 to 30 hours per week.

Plant supervisors monitor electrical services to communities and repair problems like knocked out lines in the winter.

Tuktoyaktuk mayor Eddie Dillon said the cutbacks will make it harder to attract new supervisors and retain existing ones. He made those comments during the NWT Association of Communities annual general meeting in Inuvik June 12 to 15.

"I can understand if power rates were being reduced for a cut in services," Dillon told Finance Minister Joe Handley during a question and answer period.

"It doesn't make economic sense to see higher rates and reduced hours for essential services."

He said the Power Corporation is sacrificing essential services and hamlets will have a hard time attracting new supervisors to the reduced positions.

"It's the power company trying to be efficient," said Handley, who is also the minister responsible for the Power Corporation.

The minister said everyone wants cheaper power, but that comes at a cost. He said the corporation's mandate is to provide reliable power at a reasonable rate and the government should let them do that.

"We have to respect their autonomy to become as efficient as possible," said Handley.

He said NWTPC needs to retain jobs and reduce costs.

Officials with the Power Corporation said the supervisors will still be on-call outside of normal work hours to address emergency services.

Two employees in Lutsel K'e and Rae Lakes will also have their hours reduced, from 30 hours a week to 25.