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Labour + Industry

Unions Seek Injunction to Stop Chinese Miners' Arrival in BC

Federal Court will hear arguments Friday to determine whether unions have standing.

Jeremy Nuttall 15 Nov 2012TheTyee.ca

Vancouver-based journalist Jeremy Nuttall spent three years reporting in Beijing before returning to B.C. this year. Find his previous Tyee articles here.

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HD Mining lawyer said worker recruitment ads specifying Mandarin speakers as preferred were 'rogue.'

A Federal Court justice said he'll hear arguments Friday to decide if two British Columbia unions have standing to seek an injunction that would stop a mining company from bringing coal miners from China to work at its project near Tumbler Ridge.

At a case-management conference Wednesday, Justice Douglas Campbell said once that's decided, other concerns regarding the company's efforts to bring in 201 miners as temporary foreign workers to the Murray River coal mine can be addressed.

Last week, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said the government had concerns whether HD Mining followed correct procedure when applying for permits to bring the workers to Canada, particularly regarding advertisements specifying Mandarin speakers were preferred.

Labour groups alleged that was done to purposely eliminate Canadians from contention, so the jobs could be filled by temporary workers at a lower cost.

Ads were 'rogue': company lawyer

Charles Gordon -- acting counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 and Construction & Specialized Workers Union Local 1611 -- argued Finley's comments give more weight to the unions' case.

But HD Mining's lawyer told the judge the company followed all procedures, referred to the ads as "rogue" and suggested the media has blown up their significance.

Gordon refuted the statement outside the courtroom.

"Those ads are publicly available, they are in our materials, they're run under HD Mining or one of their parent companies, and I haven't heard them say they didn't put those in," said Gordon.

"I'm not really sure what they mean by 'they're rogue ads.'"

Recently the mining firm's spokesperson Jody Shimkus told the Province newspaper the ads were placed by mistake.

Neither HD Mining representatives nor its lawyers would answer questions from reporters after the conference.

The unions want all records related to HD Mining's application for the workers' permits released, something the company won't do citing privacy for the company and its workers.

So far, 17 of the workers are thought to have arrived in Canada, but there was dispute of that number.

The company has questioned if the unions have a right to any standing in the case. If the court decides they don't, the action will be dismissed without access granted to the permit records.

Arguments regarding the standing of the two labour groups will take place Friday, but it's not known if a decision will also be issued the same day.

Lack of info 'the biggest issue': union spokesperson

The two unions also want assurances no more miners from China will come to Canada as the court action and government investigations into the case are conducted.

But on Wednesday lawyers representing the federal government told Justice Campbell the visas and their related work permits were already issued and could not be rescinded, an assertion the judge rejected.

Justice Campbell said it seemed the company and the government had enough power between them to stop the workers from coming to Canada if needed, and suggested they tell the workers in China there is a chance they won't be leaving for B.C. to "ease their anxiety."

Outside the court, Gordon questioned why lawyers for the federal government seemed to be contradicting Minister Finley and siding with HD Mining.

"We don't know what's up with that," he said. "We thought, given Minister Finley's statement last week where she clearly admitted that there were problems in the process in this case, that we might get something that was a little more conciliatory in that sense, but we didn't see that. They seem to be at this point backing up."

Also outside the court, union spokesman Lee Loftus said he isn't concerned about the miners being told they may not be working in Canada or having their visas and permits rescinded.

"I would rather stop it now than having them come here, then be displaced and going back," said Loftus.

He said the lack of information regarding the permits and the company itself have made it hard to determine if proper procedures were followed.

"The biggest issue is they're not disclosing any information," he said. "At this stage, as long as they continue to not give us any access, we say they're doing something wrong."

Labour groups have complained about difficulty of getting information about the company that holds a 55 per cent share in the project with HD Mining, Beijing-based Hui Yong holdings.

A website for the company was not found, but The Tyee tracked down a Hui Yong holdings in Beijing founded in 2004 with a registered capital of $15.87 million CAD and now boasting control of 1.5 billion tons of coal.

A person who answered a call to the company's Beijing office said further information about the operation would have to come from the company president, but refused to help contact that person.

An advertisement placed in 2010 searching for a person to translate English for the company and facilitate the export of labour was also found online.  [Tyee]

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