Layoffs follow Ekati fire
Dominion looks to cut costs while repairs are made to mine
Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Friday, July 1, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Employees at Dominion Diamond Corporation's Ekati Mine are facing temporary layoffs in order to reduce costs during operation delays caused by a fire at the site's process plant.
On Wednesday, the company stated in a news release that plans were in the works to reduce operating and capital costs during a three-month period while repairs are made to the plant. The fire, which occurred on June 23, was contained to a small area, the release said, with no damage to the main structure of the mine.
Operations are expected to return to full force following the repairs.
"After taking a full and careful assessment, we are taking the most prudent course of action which delivers limited, ongoing mining of higher value ore, while also taking the necessary steps to make repairs and return to production and preserve capital," CEO Brendan Bell stated in the release.
"We would also like to thank our employees for their actions and commitment to resolving this situation quickly and efficiently."
As well as layoffs, the change in operations will see mining of lower priority and lower value ore put on hold, along with capital investments that are not deemed essential for continued operation.
Approximately 800 people are employed at Ekati - which is located about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife - with some unionized and others, such as contractors and management non-unionized.
"We have approximately 500 members unionized out there under the Union of Northern Workers and the employer has not contacted us as of yet as to how the layoffs will affect our members if at all," Gayla Thunstrom, the union's first vice-president told Yellowknifer on Wednesday.
"The only thing I can speculate about this is that I would guess that our members, the unionized members, would be probably the last people to be laid off because our collective agreement - that they currently fall under - has severance provisions that would apply if they were to be laid off."
A representative from Dominion Diamond told Yellowknifer more details about the layoffs will be available next week.
Bargaining is currently underway for a new collective agreement for Ekati employees and, thus far, it has not been successful.
Earlier this year both parties were in Vancouver for hearings with the Canada Industrial Relation Board following Dominion's filing of a failure to bargain complaint, as well as an unfair labour practice complaint filed by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (of which UNW is a component.)
The most recent round of bargaining came in the end of May, with members voting overwhelmingly to reject Dominion's offer.
Whether the temporary layoffs would impact bargaining at all, Thunstrom said is unknown.
It is not unheard of for layoffs to be announced while a union and employer are in the midst of bargaining - a similar situation occurred in April when the GNWT announced possible layoffs, causing the union to request a six-month notice period of layoffs just a month before its final talks scheduled for May.
Bargaining has been ongoing between UNW and Dominion since August 2014, with the as-of-yet unreached collective agreement expiring in 2019.
Thunstrom said: "The two groups have been looking at dates in July to continue bargaining but nothing has been confirmed."
Dominion's stock price took a hit after the fire, but it had been sliding since June 9, when the company released its 2017 fiscal year first quarter results. After the company reported a $35.9-million loss before income taxes, its stock slid from $14.18 and had been steadily losing value as the month went on. By June 24, the day after the fire, shares were sitting at $12.09. As of yesterday afternoon, they were valued at $11.31.
