They are some of the coldest and most remote lands in North America, but the IBEW considers Canada’s Northwest Territories fertile organizing ground.

The NWT, one of three Canadian territories in northwest Canada, are a vast expanse of land stretching from the 60th parallel north to the Arctic Circle. They are sparsely populated—about 40,000 people in all—but include some ripe targets. An IBEW delegation visited Yellowknife, the gateway to the Northwest Territories, in mid-May to attend the annual trade fair, join the labour federation and formally re-establish a presence in the vast region.

During their five days in Yellowknife, the group visited local nonunion contractors and investigated other targets on the professional and industrial side, which produced several leads for organizers, said First District Lead Organizer Darrell Taylor.

"A lot of them were amazed that we were up there talking to them," said Edmonton, Alberta, Local 424 Organizing Director Al Brown.

The group also met with Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Local 1574 members, employed by Northwest Telecom.

Diamond mines, a gold mine, gas and oil exploration, and school and hospital construction represent some of the most promising opportunities, Brown said. Organizers see other non-construction openings in mining, such as in security and support staff at the mines, as well as the mining jobs themselves. They are also talking to pilots for the small airline carriers that transport people and supplies across Northwest Territories and neighboring Yukon Territory, Taylor said.

One obstacle is the Christian Labor Association of Canada—an undemocratic pro-employer association making inroads across Canada, including the oil sands projects in Alberta.

"CLAC has been running unchecked for so long, no one has really taken an interest," Taylor said. "But if you leave it alone, the nonunion will grow and grow and it makes it so much more difficult to get a foot in the door later."

CLAC represents some of the non-construction workers in the mines, but organizers have other challenges in reaching the workers: mine companies control both access to the property and the airfields that serve them. "Some of these mines are 500 miles from anywhere," Brown said, adding that outside organizers would need a court order to allow them on site.

That’s where the work of salts—IBEW members working inside the mines—comes in. Once construction work picked up in the mines over the past couple of years, members from other parts of Canada, primarily the Maritimes, traveled West for work. Their help is being enlisted to convince other mine workers to sign IBEW authorization cards.

That effort was moving along until December, when the global recession finally reached the Northwest Territories and layoffs hit the diamond industry, slowing the organizers’ work of the past 18 months.

"We had good traction going, but a lot of the work was postponed in the diamond mines. Now we are rebuilding," Brown said. He is working closely with the home locals of the members who will be the first to be called back following the shutdown. "By and large, they want to help others win the same benefits and protections they enjoy as IBEW members," Brown said.

The four diamond mines, which can employ up to 800 people each, are a great target, particularly for a construction union. Always pushing the depths for more diamond exploration, the mines are constantly under heavy construction. Conditions are tough, with workers pulling 12-hour shifts and temperatures plunging to minus 50 degrees Celsius.

Most are not entitled to pension plans or reciprocal benefits. And for the difficult conditions and remote location of the work, many are being paid substandard wages, Brown said.

"We’re up there now plowing the fields and planting the seeds and it’s going to be a long-term project," Brown said. "You never know when it’s going to pay off. But if you don’t start something, nothing will ever happen."