Fort Smith (Oct 18/04) - A tentative deal was reached Oct. 11 to end a two-month strike at Parks Canada, just before a deadline for a general walk-out.

The 4,800 workers across the country, represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), entered a legal strike position on Aug. 13. Since then, there have been rotating strikes and strategic withdrawals of service, although parks remained open.

In the NWT, 50 workers, including seasonal employees, were affected. The majority work at Wood Buffalo National Park.

The four-year-deal, if ratified, would hike pay by 2.5 per cent retroactive to August 2003, and 2.25 per cent, 2.4 per cent and 2.5 per cent in the other years. The deal would end in 2007.

Initially, the union was looking for a five per cent wage increase each year.

Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, PSAC's regional vice-president for Northern Canada, notes there have also been salary adjustments ranging from 2.6 per cent to 19 per cent on top of the yearly increases. The adjustments will narrow the pay gap with provincial and territorial public servants and the private sector, he says.

Des Lauriers calls the salary adjustment a victory, noting the government had previously denied the wage gap existed.

No date has been set for the ratification vote, although Des Lauriers says it could take six to eight weeks.