Yellowknife (May 12/06) - Premier Joe Handley criticized Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington Thursday for his support of unionized striking Ekati employees.

Premier Handley: "As a public government we have to represent everybody."

"As a public government we have to represent everybody," said the premier, explaining his government's neutral stance.

"By jumping on one side or the other he's not representing everybody and it's not something I would do."

Handley said the GNWT had no authority to make any decisions in the matter, offer to mediate, or direct people back to the bargaining table.

"It's not my place to pull them together," he said. "The union tells me that the mine is using replacement workers and they are including members who've crossed the picket lines, and I'm not sure that's a reasonable definition of replacement workers."

Handley said BHP has assured him that it was not using replacement workers, but it was difficult to tell exactly what was happening.

Already having taken heat from the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines for his support of the union, Bevington is making no apologies for his position.

"As an MP I feel quite comfortable supporting the workers in this," he said from Ottawa on Wednesday.

"It's a difficult situation, as this is the first collective agreement, and I think there are philosophical issues as well as monetary ones."

In a March 27 letter of support to Todd Parsons, Union of Northern Workers president, Bevington said he was concerned about the use of replacement workers.

Although the union has accused BHP of using replacement workers, the company denies the allegation, claiming more than 30 per cent of its 375 unionized employees have returned to work. While the union disputes this figure, it admitted that some had indeed crossed the picket line, "but the number is nowhere near that amount," said Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, Public Service Alliance of Canada regional vice-president.

However, he said he was unable to provide a specific count, because union members who returned to work "are coming from all over the region."

Meanwhile, Bevington says he met with business leaders when he was in Yellowknife last weekend and was urging both sides to return to the bargaining table. Previous to these meetings, the MP started his visit to the capital by appearing at a union rally, offering his support for the strikers.

That didn't come as a surprise to Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce President Stephen Meister, who was also miffed at the MP's public support of the strikers.

"It's to be half-expected, as Dennis is a member of the NDP, which historically has close alliance with unions. But from a business perspective, we were hoping for more of a neutral stance like the GNWT has taken," he said.

When asked if there had been any impact to the diamond business in Yellowknife, Meister said there was no direct impact as supplies continued to flow to the minesite.

"The longer (the strike) goes, though, it could impact it," he added. "Obviously there's a fiscal impact on strikers who live in Yellowknife and this might carry over into the community from a retail perspective."