Union fears $1K attendance bonus at Ekati mine could make workplace less safe

Ekati mine workers negotiating a long-overdue new contract with Dominion Diamond Corporation have said "No" to the company's latest offer.

Among the union's concerns: Dominion's proposalto pay a bonus of $1,000 to workers who do not take a single sick day during the calendar year.

The Union of Northern Workerssays that would set a dangerous precedent.

"What this might do is cause a person to go to work and work when they're not feeling well," said Gayla Thunstrom, the union's first vice-president.

"It could also cause them not to work as safely as they normally would work. If you're unhealthyand not feeling well, youshould stay home and get better and then go to work safe."

Brendan Bell, CEO of Dominion Diamond Corporation, countered that in a statement, saying,"We will continue to run our business according to the highest safety and operational standards and remain eager to finalize negotiations."

In addition to offering the bonus, Dominion says it no longer wants to payemployees for the first three days of their sick leave, unless the illness continues for 30 days or more.

Employees currently receive an average of $480 per sick day, according to the union.

Boost travel allowance to $15K: Dominion

The overall offer to the 480 workers represented byLocal 3050 was released last weekby the union, following thevote. The union has been negotiating the new contract with Dominion Diamondsince August 2014.

The other increases and perksin the rejected deal included:

• a $1,250 signing bonus
• another $250 bonusif 75 per cent of local members accepted the deal
• salary level increases of 1.5 per cent retroactive to June 1, 2015, and plus additional 1.5 per cent increases in 2017 and 2018
• aboostto the annual Northern Travel Allowance to $15,000.

The allowance is only available to workers who live in the N.W.T. or Nunavut and is meant to help workers pay for travel within and from the North.

It is currently set at $11,000 per year.

The $1,250 signing bonus is partly meant to cover out-of-pocket expenses for employees affected by Dominion's cancellation last summer of the flight taking workers from Edmonton to Yellowknife, according to the bargaining team for Local 3050.

About 117 of those workers lived outside the N.W.T. as of a year ago, according to the union, making them likely users of that flight. An impasse over its cancellationstalled contract negotiations for months.

No more merit pay?

The overall deal contained other red flags for the union,including:

• the dropping of one-per-cent merit pay boosts, for which employees are currently eligible every year
• no longer allowing employees to carry over vacation entitlement from year to year for up to 384 hours
• no severance for employees hired after the new contract is signed. Instead, working notice would be provided.

The union's bargaining team had recommended that workers reject the deal before the vote.

"This result expresses very loudly the wishes of you, the bargaining unit members, that Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair and reasonable agreement," the team wrote to its members.

Negotiations are expected to resume in July.