Yellowknife (May 10/06) - As the Ekati mine strike went into its 29th day Friday, efforts by both the union and company to win the public relations battle continued.

A man looks at some union literature at the Public Service Alliance of Canada's headquarters in Yellowknife. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

Following several Public Service Alliance of Canada press releases - in particular, one drawing attention to Ekati's outstanding $56 million security deposit for a water licence - company officials visited Yellowknifer to provide an explanation.

"The (Mackenzie Valley Land and) Water Board was made well aware of the delay and it did not infringe in any way of our operation," said Ekati external affairs officer Deana Twissell.

According to Ekati figures, more than 120 of the 375 union employees at the mine have crossed the picket line and returned to work.

"The majority of union members have signed and submitted a de-certification application to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board," she said.

Twissell added that the company would be willing to come back to the bargaining table if the union was "serious" about resolving the issue that has kept picketers marching in Edmonton, Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Hay River - the departure points for flights into the mine site located 300km northeast of Yellowknife.

Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, PSAC executive vice-president North, says the mine has been negotiating in bad faith.

He says BHP Billiton, which owns the Ekati mine, has no intention of reaching a deal and is trying to break the union.

"They denied access to the mine by union leaders before the strike and they've hired scabs," alleged Des Lauriers.

"The only way they can have the mine operating at 100 per cent capacity is by hiring scabs."

While Des Lauriers acknowledges that some members have indeed crossed the picket line, he disputes Ekati's numbers.

"I can tell you that number's wrong. Our numbers come from the people themselves and there's not 120, that's for sure," he said.

Last week, the union won a small battle when the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled that BHP Billiton violated the Canadian Labour Code when it changed the pension plan without the union's consent.

In its ruling, the CIRB ordered both parties to meet within 20 days to deal with the pension issue and Des Lauriers hopes this will open the door to further discussions.

In the meantime, there are more than 10 other outstanding PSAC complaints against the mine filed with the CIRB. According to Twissell, last week's ruling against BHP Billiton with respect to the union members' pension plans is not related to the current impasse.

With respect to union claims that Ekati was using replacement workers, Twissell flatly denied it.

"We are not using a replacement workforce. These allegations are not true," she said.

As the war of words doesn't appear to be letting up, the union scored a small victory when Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington appeared at a union rally on April 5 at the Yellowknife Airport. During a speech, Bevington commended the strikers, saying everyone in the North, "Should be proud of the work these people do."

"It's quite refreshing to have an MP that takes up the cause of the workers as opposed to the cause of the big multi-nationals," said Des Lauriers of Bevington's support.