Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 21/00) - A sharp drop in members due to last fall's layoff at Giant mine is creating problems for Canadian AutoWorkers Local 2304.

Steve Petersen, plant chair of the local, said that going from more than 200 members to the approximately 50 who have been rehired to work at the mine, has diminished union dues "considerably."

"Our dues have dropped by 75 per cent," Petersen said. "Our costs are still the same, the costs to operate the hall."

Local 2304 is based out of the Giant Mine Transition Centre, which was set up last fall to deal with the massive layoff at the bankrupt mine. Petersen said the local contributes to the rent but ensures the business of the transition centre and the local is kept separate.

"We hold most of the meetings we can out of the mine site. We've got some calls coming here, of course," Petersen said.

"What we're doing right now is we're just handling grievances and trying to work out situations like benefit packages and stuff like that. We're carrying on with the day-to-day sort of stuff the local normally does for its membership.

"The rent here is a couple of thousand dollars a month, and we're only bringing in a couple of thousand in union dues, I mean, there's going to have to be some serious decisions made as to what exactly we can and cannot do."

Petersen said funding for the centre is scheduled to end in June or July, after which the local will be on its own.

"We obviously can't afford this rent at the local.

"We have enough wherewithal to hang on until the end of the summer, and then once we reconvene after the summer -- because the hall usually closes down for part of the summer months -- then we would be able to sort of look at our situation and consider our options.

"We'll have a better idea where our membership numbers are going to be. They've called back another four or five people (at Giant), they may call back some more people, or whatever," Petersen said.

"But of course, when dropping from 200 and some members down to 40-some, of course the needs correspondingly drop. There's no need for the same full-time presence we had before."

Petersen said any local remains active as long as there are at least two or three members.