Ekati workers reach tentative agreement
Deal between mine employees and Dominion Diamond took more than two years
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After 30 months of negotiation, workers at Ekati Diamond Mine have reached a tentative agreement.
After 30 months of negotiation, more than 500 workers at Ekati Diamond Mine reached a tentative agreement with Dominion Diamond Corporation on Friday. - NNSL file photo
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The deal, which still needs to be ratified, is between more than 500 workers and Dominion Diamond Corporation. Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) North were the negotiators.
PSAC vice-president Jack Bourassa said he's happy for everybody involved.
"There have been a lot of people who have been on pins and needles on both sides I'm sure, and it looks like it's coming to an end," he told Yellowknifer.
The tentative agreement includes a pay bump of 5.5 per cent over five years, backdated to 2015. According to Bourassa, employees will see a two-per-cent increase effective June 1, 2015, a 1.5-per-cent increase on June 1 of this year, and another two-per-cent increase in 2018.
He said this is good news, considering originally Dominion Diamond came to the table looking for cutbacks.
"There were numerous concessions that were being sought after by the company in order to cut costs for themselves and they ultimately relented and decided they would leave everything on the table," he said.
The employees involved range across job types, from truck drivers to electricians, welders, boiler operators and labourers.
Dominion Diamond CEO Brendan Bell stated in an e-mail he was pleased the union and mine workers have come to an agreement.
"We look forward to a positive outcome of the vote in March among union membership," he stated.
The negotiations took 30 months total to reach this point, but this fact doesn't phase Gayla Thunstrom, first vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers. She was at the table with the bargaining team throughout the process.
"I mean, bargaining takes time," she said, adding the next step is the ratification vote with various members, expected to be complete in March.
Bourassa said he is cautiously optimistic about the deal.
"I think based on the economic climate ... this is the best they can get," he said. "You can certainly get more if you wanted to push things to the max and find everybody out on strike, but people still need to feed their families and pay their rent. So based on where we are today and given how long it's taken to get to this point, I'm certainly happy that the bargaining team did the best job that they could for their members at this time."
