Union recommends workers reject 'final offer'
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (May 07/01) - Nunavut employees are back on the job, but may not be there for long.
This week 1,300 workers across Nunavut will vote on what the government says is its final offer. The Nunavut Employees union is recommending workers reject the offer.
"We need to get a clear message from our membership about the final offer made by the employer," said union president Doug Workman.
He would not say how soon workers would go on strike if the offer is rejected. "It could occur as early as the next day, or it could be a bit later," he said.
In a change in strike tactics, the union last Tuesday switched from rotating strikes to a work-to-rule campaign, with employees refusing overtime and sticking tightly to their job descriptions.
Not all employees are back, said Workman. Some were kept on picket duty and others kept off the job to help arrange a vote on the government's 'final' offer.
In Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay, 180 members were on the picket lines for two weeks. The dispute involves 1,300 workers.
Nunavut Finance Minister Kelvin Ng said the union is demanding too much too soon.
"They've really tried to catch up with all the government reductions and freezes that have happened over the last six years ... which I don't think is that realistic," Ng said. Ng, once a minister of Health and Social Services, noted he was a member of the NWT cabinet that imposed the cuts prior to division.
Information packages and copies of the offer were sent out to each community Friday and today. The union is anticipating having the results of the territory-wide vote by May 15.
The main issue is the Northern allowance the government pays to offset the high cost of living and vacation travel in the communities. The union contends the allowance does not accurately reflect the cost of living in all of the communities.
So far, the strike has had minimal impact on the delivery of programs and services, Ng said. The main impacts have been felt in the departments of justice and health.
Residents in a half-way house had to be transferred to the Baffin Correctional Centre. Four high-risk inmates at the correctional centre had to be transferred to the Yellowknife Correctional Centre, although Ng said the strike simply hastened the transfer.
The hospital in Iqaluit had to postpone some specialty clinics and the number of available beds was reduced because support services were not available, Ng said.
Non-unionized staff from departments such as human resources have been used to help fill some of the gaps in program delivery, said the minister.
What impact would a general strike have on programs and services?
"We would hope, again, it would be relatively minimal," said Ng. "But there will be some kinds of impacts."
Ng would not elaborate on a strike contingency plan the government has developed, except to say residents can expect delays in administrative services such as drivers licence renewals.
The impetus for the new strike tactics was not financial, Workman said.
"We're not cash-strapped," he said. "We are affiliated with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which is the seventh-largest union in Canada and doesn't have a funding problem."
If workers go on strike, strike pay of roughly $50,000 per day will come from the parent union, Workman said, adding strike pay for City of Iqaluit workers is being funded by PSAC.
