Yellowknife (Apr 21/06) - Yellowknife police have a plan in place should a strike by workers from the Ekati diamond mine turn violent.

Police were called to the scene of job action three times last week, although there were no arrests.

"This is a normal process between two parties," said Insp. Roch Fortin, head of the Yellowknife detachment.

"We are not worried."

Union members walked off the job April 7, following months of unsuccessful negotiations with BHP Billiton. Because the Ekati minesite is about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife and only accessible by air, the striking workers - supplemented by union office staff - have taken to picketing near the Yellowknife Airport.

In an effort to be "proactive," Fortin said police are prepared for everything from peaceful marches to violence, the likes of which gripped a meat packing plant in Brooks, Alberta last year. During that strike, police arrested both union members and plant managers in a dispute that grabbed headlines across the country.

Fortin said the so-called "Brooks" model for quelling labour disputes is used by police forces across the country. It focuses on conflict resolution and a peaceful ending to confrontations. "We have to be ready for any kind of eventuality," Fortin said.

He dismissed comparisons by some union members to the contentious labour dispute at Giant Mine in 1992, which resulted in the bombing deaths of nine strike-breaking miners.

"It is disrespectful to those families to compare this to Giant," Fortin said. "A lot has changed since that time and (the RCMP plan) is a testament to that."

For now, the RCMP will not station officers at the airport or Braden Burry Expediting, a nearby company that has ferried strike-breaking miners and contractors to Ekati. The territorial department of transportation, though, has stepped up patrols around the airport.

"It is important for the RCMP to remain impartial," Fortin said Wednesday. "Both sides have been respecting our wishes so far. If the situation changes, we will have to re-evaluate."

Police will continue to respond to individual calls and keep the lines of communication open with the union and BHP Billiton, Fortin said.