TORONTO (Reuters) - The union representing 400 workers at
the Ekati diamond mine in the Canadian Arctic warned the mine's
owner, BHP Billiton
The Public Service Alliance of Canada union, which served the mining giant with strike notice on Monday, said employees have received a letter from BHP stating the company plans to "continue to operate during any labor disruption."
PSAC regional executive vice president Jean-Francois Des Lauriers said in a statement that the union does not accept the use of replacement workers, adding "we warn BHP Billiton that these tactics will not intimidate workers but will make things much worse."
Employees could walk off the job on March 29.
"Management at BHP Billiton is setting the grounds for a very disruptive labor conflict," Des Lauriers said.
BHP spokeswoman Tracey Whitehead confirmed the letter was sent to employees, but declined to say whether replacement workers will be used to operate the mine.
"I can't actually go into any detail as to how we're" going to continue to operate," she said, adding, "we're looking at different contingency plans to enable us to do it."
Ekati, located in the Northwest Territories, produces 4 million to 5 million carats of rough diamonds per year.
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