Yellowknife (Feb 25/04) - Sixty-one per cent of Ekati Mine employees have voted in favour of transferring their bargaining rights to the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Voting was held on Feb. 7, 8, 21 and 22.

PSAC North regional organizer Don Dudar said he wasn't surprised with the voting results.

"I knew it was going to be a tough decision and an important decision. The executive has been doing the hard work and it's all been based on a transparent platform," Dunbar said.

"If you look at the history, there's been a lot of challenges for the association with the thought that it has been employer-dominated in the past. It's pretty impressive they were able to get that type of support out because people were disenfranchised," said Dudar.

PSAC will not be in a formal position to bargain on behalf of the mine employees until a certificate notifying the transfer of bargaining rights has been approved by the Canada Industrial Relations Board. That will probably not happen until sometime in May.

In the meantime, Amos Cardinal, BHP Employees Association president, wants to get the ball rolling.

"We are excited about moving forward from this process to electing an employee bargaining committee and preparing for negotiations with the company," said Cardinal.