Tentative Agreement Reached in Ekati Strike

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Ekati diamond mine announced Friday that they have reached a tentative agreement for striking Ekati diamond mine workers. PSAC is recommending acceptance to end the strike that began April 7.

The tentative agreement was reached with the assistance and direction of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) at talks earlier this week in Edmonton. The CIRB imposed a communications blackout until noon June 23. The agreement, reached on June 21 includes:

• annual salary increases, additional paid personal leave days based on length of service, a retention bonus, a return to work bonus and continued enhanced incentive pay
• the right for current bargaining unit employees to choose to either remain in or withdraw from the union
• mutual withdrawal of specified CIRB and court proceedings

The parties agreed to zero tolerance of harassment of any employee who engaged in lawful strike activity. The CIRB ordered the union not to take or allow any member to engage in reprisals of any kind, including fines, against any employee who lawfully remained at or returned to work.

"We're very pleased that we have reached this tentative agreement with the union as the agreement shows mutual respect for all employees at Ekati and the tough choices each had to make during the labor dispute," said Richard Morland, vice president operations Ekati. "We wholeheartedly recommend its acceptance."

PSAC National President John Gordon said Ekati workers can be proud of their fight to win the first-ever contract at a Canadian diamond mine against BHP Billiton, the largest mining company in the world. "When less than 400 union members take on a giant multinational corporation with $7.5 billion in annual profits to try and win a first contract, it's hardly a fair fight.”

“They reached a tentative agreement against the odds in an extremely tough strike where the employer did everything it could to defeat them and failed to do so,” he added.

Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, PSAC Executive VP-North, said the union's local bargaining team will be recommending acceptance of the contract but not releasing details to the media until members are informed. “With a collective agreement in place, Ekati workers will have rights to exercise instead of asking management for privileges, and workers will have a union grievance system to enforce those rights," Des Lauriers said.

Todd Parsons, President of the Union of Northern Workers component of PSAC, which represents Diamond Workers UNW Local X3050, said the resolve of Ekati workers to win a contract was strengthened by a national and international campaign to support them and target BHP Billiton. "Solidarity was a key factor in getting to a tentative agreement,” Parsons said.

He added that the union's Dirty Diamonds campaign urging an international boycott of Ekati-produced Aurias and CanadaMark will end when a contract is in place.

The details of the agreement and timeline for the ratification vote will be communicated by the union shortly. Ekati and the union also acknowledged the need to complete a return to work protocol as soon as the agreement is ratified.

Ekati is Canada's first diamond mine. It produces 6 percent of the world's diamond supply by value or 4 percent by weight, yielding 3 to 5 million carats annually.