News release

June 13, 2006

PSAC launches campaign to boycott Ekati dirty diamonds

Yellowknife – Over 2 million readers of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal in the United States will read today about “Dirty Diamonds” being produced despite a strike by Ekati diamond mine workers, as their union runs major ads in the newspapers as part of its growing international campaign against mine owner BHP Billiton.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is asking consumers not to buy Ekati diamonds being produced by strikebreakers under the Aurias and CanadaMark trademarks behind union picket lines as the union fights to win a fair first collective agreement for nearly 400 Ekati workers on strike since April 7.

“BHP Billiton is going to feel increasing heat around the world until it reaches a fair contract with Ekati diamond mine workers,” said Jean-François Des Lauriers, PSAC Executive Vice-President-North.  “We will be telling readers of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal that they should not buy Canada’s own conflict diamonds – diamonds being produced despite a labour conflict.”

Des Lauriers said BHP Billiton has been marketing Ekati diamonds as “conflict free” compared to diamonds produced in war-torn African nations but potential buyers are not yet aware of the strike by Ekati’s workers and the company’s failure to negotiate a fair contract.

“We believe consumers who care about human rights and fair treatment of workers anywhere in the world will not want to purchase Ekati diamonds until workers there have a fair collective agreement,” Des Lauriers said. “And we intend to tell the world that BHP Billiton is using strikebreakers to produce dirty diamonds at Ekati – diamonds that consumers should not buy because of this labour conflict.”

The newspaper ads can be seen online.  The ads ask readers to send BHP Billiton a message supporting a fair contract for Ekati workers.

Todd Parsons, President of the Union of Northern Workers component of PSAC, which represents Diamond Workers UNW Local X3050, said retail jewelers are marketing the the Aurias and CanadaMark diamonds as “conflict free” and not “blood diamonds” produced in war-torn countries like Sierra Leone and the Congo.

“We strongly support efforts to boycott blood diamonds in order to help those diamond workers around the world get fair treatment and we expect that people who have refused to buy blood diamonds will also want to support our Ekati workers who are on strike exercising their democratic right to join a union and get a contract,” Parsons said.

The ads are running in today’s national edition of the New York Times and the eastern U.S. edition of the Wall Street Journal.

Ekati produces 6 per cent of the world’s diamond supply by value or 4 per cent by weight and yields 3 to 5 million carats annually. It is located 300 km northeast of Yellowknife and 200 km south of the Arctic Circle.

For more information:
Dave Thompson, PSAC at (867) 873-5670 or cell (867) 445-8110 or Bill Tieleman, West Star Communications – 604-844-7827 or cell 778-896-0964 

Websites: www.psacnorth.com & www.unw.ca