Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 17/99) - Marc Danis, president of Canadian Autoworkers Local 2304, the union representing 280 workers who used to be employed at Giant mine, had harsh words for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) this week.

"We got nothing. We were sold out by DIAND," Danis said Wednesday morning.

"They held a gun to our head (and) said, you want the 50 jobs or not? They held a gun to our heads and said take this or we're pulling out," he said. "A lot of the members are mad."

DIAND, Miramar Mining Corp. and receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) all got something, Danis said, noting DIAND doesn't have to own the mine, Miramar gets to lower its per ounce production costs, and PwC gets its bills paid.

Miramar announced Tuesday it had closed its deal to acquire Giant mine. Company spokesperson Brian Labadie said Miramar expects to rehire 50 to 60 Giant mine workers.

As part of the sale, it was reported only about $2 million will be distributed among employees.

At Dec. 31, 1998, Royal Oak employed 614 hourly staff and 290 salaried staff. That works out to about $2,200 a person.

Danis, who was still awaiting official information on the severance payout Wednesday, said the plan was to cover the first $500 of each claim and then give 20 cents on the dollar up to a maximum of $2,000. That translates to $2,500 a person.

Danis said taxes and employment insurance will eat up the lion's share of $2,500, leaving members essentially with nothing.

The union was seeking much more than $2,500 per worker. Danis pointed not only to the union's collective agreement, which the union suggests includes a six-month period, but also a 12-week notice of mass termination required under the NWT Labour Standards Act. These two claims, if successful and consecutive, would have translated into thousands of dollars more per worker.

"While employees got far less than what they wanted, there was the threat that if the government had convinced the court that the Giant employees were not legally terminated, the receiver would have abandoned the property, GNWT Justice Minister Stephen Kakfwi said.

Tuesday, the GNWT said it would not appeal the Nov. 11 ruling which concluded the termination of Giant mine workers was legal. The GNWT suggested pressing the matter could have been a deal breaker.

Kakfwi also said if the property was abandoned, employees would have received nothing and a proposed Giant mine takeover would have been scuttled.

"Obviously, I didn't want us to kill the agreement made by the union, or a takeover deal, for the sake of trying to prove a point. The fact that the receiver negotiated this agreement with the union tells me that they feared our legislation would be upheld and that, in itself, is a victory," Kakfwi said.

As for the Giant mine workers' pension plans, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has appointed accounting firm Deloitte and Touche as administrator of the two pension plans operating for the benefit of salaried and hourly-paid workers at the Giant mine.

"OFSI has taken this measure to protect interests of the beneficiaries of the two plans, consistent with its mandate under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985," Nicholas Le Pan, deputy superintendent, supervision, said.

OFSI communications director Margaret Pearcy said the institution filed the claim with an Ontario court about two months ago for an estimated $400,000.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is seeking the money on behalf of the hourly (union) workers. The money would top up the pension. No claim was deemed necessary for the salaried employees.