Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 07/05) - Labour Day signals the end of summer and back to school for many Northerners. It is also a day many workers take to relax and celebrate.

More than 200 people gathered for a free barbecue hosted by the Northern Territories Federation of Labour on Monday. A few union folks took time away from the heat to share some thoughts on the state of labour in the North.

Steve Petersen, regional vice-president of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour, says workers should be paid before the bank if a company goes bankrupt.

Jean-Francois Des Lauriers

Regional executive vice-president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada

There is still a lot of resistance to unionization in the North. Workers are still intimidated, particularly minimum wage and term employees.

Aboriginal workers still face considerable exclusion and discrimination in the workplace.

In PSAC's negotiations with BHP (Billiton), the employer is resisting union efforts because they feel they are doing an adequate job.

But aboriginal workers are being singled out for drug testing. PSAC is supporting a number of workers now in human rights cases based on that. Also, companies are not willing to slow down and wait for people to be trained. Wealth is extracted and the returns are minimal.

PSAC is proposing a joint employment equity committee made up of an equal number of employees and managers to ensure fairness in hiring, promotion and training. There is resistance to this.

This collective agreement with BHP will be used as an example for other workplaces.

It's the same old story. Big companies outside the North make lots of money and sprinkle some around. PSAC is trying to force them to leave more behind. If it weren't for the workers, there would be no wealth.

Todd Parsons, President of the Union of Northern Workers

Unions in the North are thriving. The first collective agreement with a diamond company (BHP Billiton) in the North should be negotiated before the year ends.

Unions are increasing in size in the North, something that is unique to us. It's not solely because of the diamond mines, either.

Unions have to diversify and be active in the private sector as well as government.

We are challenged in the North with smaller groups that are spread sporadically throughout the territories. But the face of unions has changed in the past three to five years. We have long-range plans and are actively interested in the community.

Still, some employers are opposed to unions, which complicates things. The ferry situation in Fort Simpson is a traditional adversarial relationship.

Steve Petersen

Regional vice-president of Northern Territories Federation of Labour and organizer with the Union of Northern Workers

The North has the highest percentage of unionized workers in Canada. That number can still increase considerably.

There are challenges such as remote camps accessible to unions only two weeks per year under Labour Board regulations.

Workers at the mining camps can be paranoid because of security cameras.

There are things the government can do for workers. It could step up and pass anti-scab legislation.

The territorial government could do that without waiting for the federal government.

Also, if a company goes bankrupt, workers should be paid first. Now, the banks get paid and workers may never see their pensions or any type of severance.

Mary Lou Cherwaty

President of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour

In a perfect world, unionization would be mandatory, such as in Iceland. Failing that, the passing of Bill C-263, the anti-scab legislation, would be nice.

If we had that in 1992 (during the Giant Mine strike), there would have been a whole different scenario.

All employers need to realize workers have a right to fair wages and fair contracts.

There is strong solidarity in the North.

Unions and locals come together to support and aid each other. The trend towards unionization is continuing.