Yellowknife (May 19/06) - Mining giant BHP Billiton has launched a lawsuit against three trade unions, claiming picket-crossing workers from its Ekati diamond mine have been harassed and threatened.

Work continues at Ekati diamond mine, six weeks into a strike by unionized workers. Owner BHP Billiton has filed a lawsuit seeking to limit the number of picketers. - David Ryan/NNSL photo

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Union of Northern Workers and United Diamond Workers local 3050 have "unlawfully conspired to injure BHP (and) its employees," the company alleged in a lawsuit filed May 11.

The suit is the latest salvo in a strike that began April 7, when some of the 385 unionized Ekati workers walked off the job to press contract demands for seeking higher wages and other concessions.

About 120 striking workers have returned to the remote diamond mine 300 km northeast of Yellowknife, the company said in court documents.

Lawyers representing BHP are scheduled to appear in NWT Supreme Court this morning seeking an order that would limit the number of union picketers at the Yellowknife and Rae-Edzo airports to five.

The mining company claims union members have harassed employees returning to work and delayed their flights to Ekati.

"The sole or predominant purpose of (these) illegal acts is to cause damage to BHP," the firm claimed in court documents.

Meanwhile, the six-week-old labour battle appears to have turned co-worker against co-worker, according to papers filed in the lawsuit.

One union member who crossed the picket line said he was told "that if he worked during the strike ... he would be beaten up..." and that "his windshield would be smashed," BHP claimed.

The spouse of an Edmonton-based Ekati contractor claimed she received an anonymous phone call telling her to "look up the history of Giant Mine and beware."

Nine picket crossers were murdered at the Yellowknife gold mine during a violent labour dispute in 1992.

The statement of claim includes more than 20 examples of what BHP calls "illegal acts."

Other employees are so fearful of reprisals that they have asked a private security firm hired by BHP to watch their houses and record the license plates of cars parked nearby.

BHP lawyer David Wotherspoon said, to date, none of the threats have resulted in violence.

The RCMP were not immediately available for comment yesterday afternoon, though there have been no arrests reported in connection with the strike.

Police were called to picket lines twice, once when strikers blocked a bus at the Yellowknife Airport and once when picketers showed up at the office of an Ekati contractor.

The BHP claims are allegations and have not been proven in court.

A lawyer for the Public Service Alliance of Canada said in legal fillings union brass does not "condone, encourage or authorize" illegal pressure tactics.

PSAC Regional Vice President Jean-Francois Des Lauriers declined to comment on the case when reached Thursday afternoon.

Union of Northern Workers president Todd Parsons was not available for an interview. The two unions have been working together to represent BHP workers. BHP and union leaders met once earlier this month to discuss pension issues, but there have been no substantive discussions towards a settlement since the workers went on strike.

In addition to requesting an injunction, BHP is seeking unspecified financial damages.

The company has said publicly that production has not been hurt during the strike.

There are about 1,500 non-union workers, most of them employees of mine contractors, at Ekati. Wotherspoon said most lawsuits like BHP's are settled before a trial. The principal goal, he said, is to have a court order in place that ensure workers can travel to and from Ekati without being threatened.