Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Delegates and observers at the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s 14th triennial national convention will demonstrate in support of the striking workers on Wednesday.

Delegates will be marching from the Westin Harbour Castle Conference Centre to the park located behind the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. Speakers at the rally will include PSAC National President Nycole Turmel, Union of Northern Workers President Todd Parson, Ekati Mine striker Robert Beaulieu.
The Ekati diamond mine, about 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife, is something of a cash-cow for BHP Billiton. The mine opened in 1998, and cost about $900 million to build. But the revenue has long-since left that number in the dust.

When it’s at full production, Ekati cranks out from three to five million carats a year. The diamonds tend to be of very high quality, commanding prices of $110 to almost $200 per carat. Late last year, Ekati President Sean Brennan reported to investors that the mine earned more than $350 million, before taxes, in both 2004 and 2005 fiscal years.

Those diamonds account for about six per cent of the world’s annual supply by value, but four per cent by volume, according to the company. It’s all done with a workforce of about 740 people who fly in and out on two-week rotations. About 390 are members of the Union of Northern Workers, part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. They went on strike on April 7, and the standoff continues.

Continue reading the CBC North Ekati strike feature.