Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 06/98) - Tom Jolliffe has a few suggestions, and both the government and the Union of Northern Workers appear ready to accept what he has to say.

Appointed by the court to act as a mediator to negotiations between the territorial government and the union, on Dec. 31 Jolliffe released a report on November and December negotiating sessions he sat in on.

"The government of the Northwest Territories has accepted all mediator recommendations in the interest of concluding a collective agreement for its employees," stated the GNWT in a press release issued Jan. 4.

Union president Jackie Simpson said the union is going to need a little more time to respond, since three people from the 10-member negotiating team are on holidays.

"I'm hoping that this week we will be able to get together at least on a teleconference call and discuss the report," said Simpson.

"(Jolliffe) certainly is trying to ... satisfy both parties," said Simpson. "I'm hopeful."

The union leader said she is hoping both sides can get together early next week to discuss Jolliffe's recommendations.

The pay equity issue remains one of the main hurdles to reaching a collective agreement.

"... it is apparent that the sticking point for the union remains in the wording of an employer-proposed accompanying MOU whereby it seeks union agreement that the system about to be implemented 'provides the foundation for gender neutral job evaluations,'" wrote Jolliffe.

The union does not want to bind employees to a system it says may be flawed or limit workers' rights to challenge the fairness of the system.

Jolliffe recommends wording of the memo be changed to say reference material used to determine pay ranges of different jobs "must be such as to provide for gender neutral job evaluations."

Other recommendations in the report include:

• resolve a dispute over the use of casual employees by stipulating there will be no systematic release and rehire of casual employees

• providing an additional $500 in Northern allowance for permanent full-timers employed from May 8, 1998, to Dec. 31, 1998, plus another $500 for those employed for the full 1999 calendar year

• the establishment of a job evaluation appeal board and job evaluation review boards to resolve disputes over job classification under the new Hay Plan system

Though recognizing "the parties are at fundamental odds over the wage rate increase issue," Jolliffe made no recommendations.

He was, however, critical of the government regarding increases under the new job classification system as the same as salary increases. The union wants to negotiate across-the-board increases apart from those contained in the reclassification.

"...trying to neatly blend the job evaluation re-write ... with the year-to-year expected percentage wage increases normally applicable to all positions is a bit of mixing apples and oranges," wrote Jolliffe.