Pulling counsellors 'biggest mistake' IOC ever made, says former support worker

A former support worker for the Employee Family Assistance Program at the Iron Ore Company of Canada mine in Labrador City says the company should never have done away with its on-the-ground counsellors and services and outsourced the job to a 1-800 number.

"In my heart I know it's the biggest mistake they ever made," Josephine Gaulton-Rowe told the CBC.

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A spike in the number of suicides in Labrador West has raised the alarm over mental health resources in the region. Health Minister John Haggie said that of five people who have taken their lives in recent months, three of them had worked at the mine.

The employee assistance program used to employ two counsellors in Labrador City. Employees could go see them if they had issues at work.

"It was done off site. It was totally confidential. Nobody ever knew unless you told somebody," Rowe said,

"People have a lot of issues at work, bullying for instance. Lack of respect was a big big thing and it needed to be dealt with."

Rowe said the support was there for workers 24/7. 

We cried with people, we laughed with people and you knew the people you were helping.- Josephine Gaulton-Rowe

"If there was issues, they were dealt with immediately," Rowe said.

The employee support program was jointly funded, with IOC matching employee donations.

"[It helped] people that had financial difficulties, people that were having mental issues, [or people] having different illnesses," Rowe said. "It helped numerous, numerous people."

Abrupt ending

In 2012, the program was shut down suddenly.

"It came to an end out of nowhere," Rowe said,

"The three of us that worked at the office at that time were called into separate meetings, and basically told the locks were changed on the doors and we had no jobs and they were outsourcing it."

The service was replaced by Homewood Human Resources, which was accessed through a 1-800 number.

Supporting our employees in taking care of their physical and mental health is our priority.- IOC email

"There was no reason for it," Rowe said, adding that people who used the program were 'shocked' and 'devastated' after it closed.

"I've had more than one person come up to me and say Debbie Sampson saved my life. They weren't speaking figuratively," she said, a reference to a former counsellor she credits with starting the program and running it for 20 years.

"You have happy healthy employees, you have higher production. Like it doesn't make sense, it was a win-win situation," Rowe said,

'They don't give a damn'

"The people in power at that time, from Australia, are not here anymore. They don't give a damn about the residents of Labrador West. We're still here and we will be here. The help we had in that office, is not here."

IOC refused an interview about the subject but made a short statement by email. 

"We provide internal occupational supports as well as providing access to an employee and family assistance program for over 25 years," the email read.

"Supporting our employees in taking care of their physical and mental health is our priority."