SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Union of Northern Workers president Todd Parsons says the union will fight any attempts by the GNWT to lower its summer student wages.

This follows a commitment made by Human Resources Minister Bob McLeod after he was questioned by Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro on June 1 about scaling back summer student wages in order to hire more of them.

Bisaro asked McLeod if he would "consider setting a specific wage for summer students - something closer to $20 an hour or $18 an hour, so that the GNWT could provide this great financial opportunity to more of our summer students."

McLeod said his department would have a look at that.

Parsons wrote a letter to McLeod - with copies sent to Bisaro and all MLAs - asking for clarification on his commitment to review the policy. He also stated all students are paid "according to the requirements of the job performed."

"The UNW would strenuously oppose any and all attempts to contravene the terms and conditions of the recently negotiated collective agreement between the GNWT and UNW," he wrote in the letter dated June 2.

Parsons said a gender-neutral job evaluation process was put in place as a result of pay equity complaints. Based on the tasks outlined in the job description, each position is assigned a point rating and then attributed a dollar amount.

"I would say the MLAs may not be well-informed or knowledgeable on the collective bargaining processes and the job evaluation process that has been put in place," he said.

"Wages are negotiated in their entirety through collective bargaining. The process was put in place to avoid any kind of bias."

Parsons said summer students are hired as casual workers.

"It's quite possible that if the GNWT was to go in and establish a set rate for summer students employed with the Government of the Northwest Territories, that may be in contravention of the NWT Human Rights Act," he said.

Parsons said he based this on the fact the vast majority of summer students are young adults and that large group would basically be discriminated against because of their age.

He said on Tuesday morning he had yet to hear back from the minister. McLeod could not be reached on Tuesday.

Tom Williams, associate deputy minister of Human Resources, said while there were no plans to review summer student pay at this time, it was something the department may put on the table in the future.

He said the department informed McLeod that because summer students are union members, any changes to their wages would have to be negotiated during collective bargaining.

"All the students are hired as UNW members and we have to look at pay equity and those other things," said Williams.

"We don't want to jeopardize anything right now, with the ratification process going on right now."

Bisaro said she received correspondence from McLeod that the department will review summer student pay.

Bisaro said she has heard from people around town that wages need to be reviewed.

"Quite a few people are desirous that we look at the wages and make some adjustment," she said.

Bisaro spoke about a graduated pay scale the Yukon Government uses for its students, where wages increase with each year the student works.

The wages range from $14.40 per hour the first year to $17.19 per hour for a fourth-year worker, according to its education department website.

Bisaro said she looked forward to meeting with Parsons to discuss the issue.