Corporation announces restructuring plans
Terry Halifax
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jan 19/01) - Following more than three years of uncertainty, the employees of the NWT Power Corporation finally know if their jobs are secure.
Last Tuesday, 10 employees were informed they are likely to be laid off Dec. 31, 2001 and 32 additional positions will be eliminated. The restructuring results from division and the creation of Nunavut's own power corporation, said Derek Aindow, human resources director for the corporation.
"We have identified 42 less positions that will be required next year," Aindow said. "We've identified alternate employment for everyone within the corporation, with the exception of 10 people."
Seven of those 10 live in Hay River, two in Yellowknife and one in Inuvik.
"We're keeping them employed throughout the calendar year, with the view to placing them elsewhere in the corporation just through normal attrition," Aindow said.
Following the recent review of the power corporation, Aindow said that new jobs may created through proposed expansions of hydro facilities in the NWT.
Of the 42 positions eliminated, 35 are in Hay River's head office and the other seven are in the field. Aindow said 32 positions have been eliminated, but the workers will be assigned to other jobs within the corporation.
"There are some situations where the job is being eliminated entirely and the alternate employment is doing something different," he said.
"There some situations where the new jobs are at a lower level than the old jobs. For both unionized and excluded staff, we are providing salary protection in accordance with our collective agreement."
Under the agreement, the company will be paying employees their current level of pay for one year.
While some workers are relieved their jobs are secure, Aindow said there are a few employees quite upset with the notice.
"Some employees aren't very happy," Aindow said. "When you tell someone that you haven't yet identified other employment for them, the message they hear is, 'I'm not wanted, I'm no good.'"
He said that is a normal part of "the grieving process."
"Once they get over that and accept the facts of what happened, the positive thing is that they have a long period of time before they actually have to worry about where a paycheck is coming from."
President of the Union of Northern Workers, Georgina Rolt-Kaiser President, said the news comes as little comfort to the 10 union members whose futures are uncertain.
"They were met with individually in Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik and told that due to the restructuring of the organization, their positions were no longer in that reorganization," Rolt-Kaiser said.
"However, they were also told that they cannot be laid off, because the government has put down the directive that there would not be any layoffs until the end of the year."
She said under the government's directive, the employees will retain their jobs until Dec. 31, 2001.
"After that, we don't know where they are going to go," she said.
"Right now they can't access the layoff provisions in the collective agreement."
