NNSL (JAN 08/97) - Contract negotiations at three large businesses could set the stage for future talks, said the president of the NWT Federation of Labor.

Workers at Giant and Con mines in Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories Power Corporation are set to negotiate new contracts and the trend of taking large management-proposed cuts could come to an end, said Jim Evoy.

Last year's move by the territorial government advocating a 6.25-per-cent wage cut and other benefit cuts is likely where management has set its sights, he said.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what they'll be trying to impose on the Power Corporation, Giant and Con workers," Evoy said.

"I'm not trying to speak for the those unions, but '97 will be a bell-weather year to see where free collective bargaining goes."

The NWT Teachers' Association, meanwhile, has threatened to take the territorial government to court if it tries to impose its final offer, an offer which teachers soundly rejected.

The teachers' association represents about 1,000 teachers outside of Yellowknife.

And while Evoy admits he's not directly involved with the Power Corporation talks or strategy sessions, he said he would be surprised if that union doesn't stick to its guns.

The teachers and Power Corporation will pose a significant challenge to the government's new Public Service Act, Evoy said.

The act was changed last year and allows the territorial government to eventually impose a final offer on unions.

"(Finance Minister John) Todd's new Public Service Act is predictably in for a rough ride here," Evoy said. "He's not going to club them into submission or legislate them into submission."