Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 15/02) - Negotiations between NorthwesTel and its workers have virtually ceased, which means the eight-week-old strike could drag on through the summer.

The 380 unionized workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers went on strike May 27.

NorthwesTel, owned by Bell Canada, has offices in Iqaluit, Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik, as well as British Columbia and Yukon.

Recently, NorthwesTel issued a release stating it can't resume negotiations because the union keeps presenting offers with increased demands. On June 12, the company offered wage increases of four per cent in 2002, 3.5 per cent n 2003 and 3.5 per cent in 2004, plus an incentive plan based on customer satisfaction and profits. This was the company's second offer, and was up 0.5 per cent from its initial offer.

According to NorthwesTel, the union then asked for a total increase of 13.8 per cent, which exceeded the union's previous offer. Then, a few days later, the union asked for 16.5 per cent.

'Creating uncertainty'

But IBEW spokesperson Cary Gryba said NorthwesTel is playing with numbers.

"They are creating uncertainty and it's a divisive tactic on NorthwesTel's part," said Gryba, adding the company's offer has remained almost unchanged.

"They only want to deal with the original offer. That's how non-serious they are about bargaining with us."

The union is also wary of the incentive plan since the company decides the payout. Gryba said the union is trying to negotiate creatively. Instead of asking for a higher rate increase, the union asked the company to roll the incentive package into wages.

"If they have the money to spend on that, why not roll it into wages where it is pensionable, where members can use it to fund their children's education?" he asked.

"If the criteria is established by the company, it's not something we can count on."

No compromise

But NorthwesTel isn't willing to compromise, Gryba said.

"They're not making any efforts at all. It's all smoke and mirrors. Their modus operandi is starvation negotiation. They figure the longer our members are out, the more we will hurt, and we'll come begging back."

Gryba also said NorthwesTel is withholding its annual report and has started the process of negotiating through the media by placing newspaper ads about the strike. Bargaining through the media was something both sides promised not to do, he said.

NorthwesTel spokesperson Anne Kennedy-Grainger wouldn't offer an explanation when asked to explain the company's number-crunching.

"I won't go into that kind of detail," she said. "We're not into negotiating in the media on this."

As for the annual report, Kennedy- Grainger said the company will probably release it eventually but isn't obligated to.

"We're not a publicly traded company. There's no requirement for us to produce an annual report," she said. But she said the company decided not to release it because of the strike.

"What we want to focus on right now is getting our employees back to work."

Grainger said the company's offer is fair and competitive but insists the union keeps widening the gap by increasing demands.