Yellowknife (Apr 14/06) - Striking Ekati workers stepped up job action this week, blocking a bus at the airport and briefly occupying an office building.

In both instances, police were called, although there were no reports of violence and there were no arrests in either incident.

Ekati miners who belong to the Public Service Alliance of Canada and Union of Northern Workers went on strike April 7.

On Wednesday morning, union members blocked a bus going to Bradenburry Expediting's building at the Yellowknife airport, from which workers are ferried to the Ekati mine, 300 km north of Yellowknife.

The workers who crossed the picket line arrived safely at the terminal and were taken to Ekati, said Deanna Twissel, spokesperson for mine owner BHP Billiton.

The territorial transport department has stepped up patrols around the airport, but so far the strike has not affected passenger or commercial flights.

"We will monitor the situation," said Department spokesperson Bob Kelly. "We hope and expect that all parties will conduct themselves appropriately.".

The showdown with the bus came a day after striking union members stormed the Ndilo offices of Kete Whii/Procon Mining in Ndilo.

The company is a joint venture between Vancouver, B.C.-based Procon Mining and several First Nations, including the Yellowknives Dene. The union said Procon - which provides contract workers to Ekati - had asked some of its employees to replace the striking miners.

"We wanted to let the company know this was unacceptable and dishonourable," said Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, regional vice president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Office workers called police, who ushered the union members out of the building without incident, said Des Lauriers.

Police confirmed the union members were not violent and did not make threats.

The president of Procon Mining and Tunnelling, Ed Yurkowski, denied his company was providing replacement workers.

"Procon's position is that we have a contract in place and we will live up to it. I don't know why we are being dragged into this."

When asked whether Procon workers would perform any of the duties normally handled by union members, Yurkowski said he could "not foresee" a situation where that would happen.

Twissel also denied that BHP is using replacement workers to keep the mine operating. "The union has alleged many things," said Twissel. "The strike is losing momentum."

UNW president Todd Parsons said the latest actions were not designed to escalate the labour dispute.

"This is the normal course of a strike - to slow down an employer," said Parsons. "They (BHP Billiton) are choosing to rip our community apart."

There is no clear answer on how the strike has affected production at Ekati, where workers pull $4-$5 billion worth of diamonds out of the ground annually.

Twissel said there has been "no impact" on operations and mine diamonds were being processed a full capacity.

But Parsons said he's been told that just three of the 20 earth moving trucks that transport diamond-bearing kimberlite to the processing plant are running.

There's been no word on any new talks or status of an application to decertify the union.