Yellowknife (Sep 13/06) - The Union of Northern Workers wants to know why BHP Billiton's Ekati diamond mine recently had to lay off nine workers.

Nine drillers and blasters - three of whom were Northerners according to the union's records - all got layoff notices the mine.

"Until BHP gives a logical reason, their actions are open to interpretation," said Gayla Wick, first vice-president with the Union of Northern Workers.

Most of the nine were senior employees and some had been working at Ekati since the mine opened, she said, declining to identify the individuals involved.

The union sent a letter to BHP outlining strategies that could help avoid eliminating the workers all together, said Wick, adding they could have been retrained to do something else at the mine.

"We are calling on the company to put the workers back to work," she said.

The Ekati mine has been in a constant state of transition for 18 months and there is now much less of a focus on open pit mining and a shift to underground work, said Deana Twissell, senior external affairs officer with BHP.

Prior to the layoffs, the company had reduced the number of blasters and drillers through attrition, she said.

Unfortunately, the mine found it necessary to bring the number of employees down to reflect reduced open pit operations, she said.

"It was no surprise to anybody at the mine," she added.

The nine workers are eligible for job transition training and eligible for any type of severance under the collective benefits agreement with the union, said Twissell.