Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 21/02) - Ekati mine needs a union, charges a former nurse at the mine who was escorted off the premises a day after tendering her resignation earlier this month.

"'Get off the site.' I was told by the safety manager," said Vivien Summers, a nurse at the BHP Billiton Diamond-owned mine for over a year.

Summers gave her employer two weeks notice to find a replacement nurse, but she was ordered to leave the site with one hour's notice on the next flight out.

Workload issues, particularly unpaid overtime, and an inadequate salary were the reasons Summers gave for resigning.

When she began as a contract nurse in February 2001, Summers was hired to treat 350 to 400 employees on staff. By the beginning of June 2002 the population of the mine had almost doubled to 650 workers.

"I was treating between 15 to 25 people a day for anything from non-work related illnesses like sore throats, to on-site injuries," said Summers.

If a case was severe, Summers would treat the patient until they could be medevaced to a hospital in Yellowknife or Edmonton.

Twelve-hour shifts, for 14 days straight were the norm, until Summers was relieved by another nurse for two weeks.

Summers' daily overtime, usually one to two hours a day, was unpaid.

"I would stay to catch up on paperwork, do all the ordering, and database entering. We had no clerk. I was the only health care worker on duty," she said.

She was also on-call 24 hours a day during her two- week shifts.

"I was underpaid by approximately $8 an hour, when compared to an equivalent position with the GNWT," Summers said.

For example, an entry-level nurse in charge was paid $34.37 an hour by the GNWT in their collective agreement which ended in March 2002.

Dolly Ablitt, regional representative of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said she is confident that it is only matter of time before Ekati workers bring in a union.

"We are getting close now, and we have a lot of momentum. There are union organizers on the inside and the outside," said Ablitt.

Problems of workload and safety stretch further than the department of health and safety, in which Summers was the fourth person to resign from in recent months, according to Ablitt.

There are also concerns over the modified work program that requires an injured worker to return to the mine after treatment and carry out a less strenuous job.

"For example, a worker was sent out for treatment for a fractured hand. The next day they were expected to report for duty with a cast on," said Ablitt.

Denise Burlingame, senior public affairs officer for BHP Billiton Diamonds, Ekati's corporate owner, confirmed that on-site nurses work 12 hours a day for two weeks straight, but would not comment on the specifics of Summers' case.

"We think we are a fair employer and we do not mistreat our employees," said Burlingame.

In May 2001, the BHP Employee's Association held a vote to determine whether employees wanted the association to represent them. Those votes have still not been counted by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Gerry Balmer, a BHP boiler operator complained that the BHPEA had close ties with the company, and a two-day hearing was held last September in Yellowknife by the CIRB.

The three-member federal labour panel, chaired by Julie Durette, has not ruled in the case.

Steve Petersen, regional vice president for the Northern Federation of Labour, says the delay in reaching a decision by the board is unconscionable.

"This is ridiculous, being that it's a year later," said Petersen. "Meanwhile the workers are without representation from either body, whether it be an employee association or a bona fide union. They're up there at the mercy of the employer."