Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 29/02) - Yellowknife's phone lines aren't ringing busy but the operators are a bit slow these days.

"Right now people may notice a delay but management is handling these functions," said NorthwesTel spokesperson Anne Grainger after the company's 393 unionized workers went on strike Monday.

Wages are an issue between the telephone company and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1574.

The operators, technicians, clerical staff and call centre reps want a five per cent pay raise in the first year of a new contract, a six per cent pay hike in the second year and seven per cent in the third year.

NorthwesTel is offering three per cent in the first year, 3.5 per cent in year two and another 3.5 per cent the third year. The phone company also will throw in a 1.5 per cent bonus based on company profits and service indicators.

The two sides worked at a new deal since late April. All other aspects of an agreement were finalized. The unionized employees have worked without a contract since December.

During the strike telephone users will have trouble reaching an operator, paying bills, finding out information about discounts and ordering phone features.

Managers and non-union phone company staff are taking care of operations after about a week and a half of instruction. NorthwesTel will do what it can to maintain operator, 811 and 611 services. In the NWT, customer service hours will be cut back by only two hours a day.

"They are like a group of trainees," said Grainger, adding the length of the strike will have the most effect on customer inconveniences. "There is a priority list."

Emergency services will take precedence with government and large business getting the next best service. Small business and residential customers will be last in line.

Last year 13 other telephone companies were surveyed on wage issues. The corporate appraisal placed NorthwesTel's technicians as the fifth highest paid and operators as seventh highest.

"It's a David and Goliath kind of story," said Yellowknife unit chairperson and NorthwesTel technician David Moran. "The members right now are getting no support."

Yellowknife strikers who paced the cold Monday morning sidewalks won't get paid for their efforts. The union doesn't have a strike fund.

"We are a small union going up against a large corporation," said Moran. NorthwesTel is owned by BCE Inc. -- one of the largest companies in Canada.

NorthwesTel has a grip on phone services throughout the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, the Yukon and northern British Columbia.

"Our pay is middle to bottom," said Moran, explaining that Yellowknife's cost of living is higher than the rest of Canada's and workers should be paid accordingly. "Northerners know it costs more to work here."

NorthwesTel's own telephones and faxes were busy with proposals and negotiations right up until the midnight Sunday strike date. The two sides are still talking, trying to work out a deal.

It is the first strike in NorthwesTel history. The company employs 566 people in total and 100 unionized employees in Yellowknife.

The worker action wasn't a surprise though. After a period of conciliation the two sides were obligated to a 21-day "cooling off period" where neither side could take any action. And before workers could strike or the company could lock out 72 hours notice was required. The earliest possible strike date was May 25. Workers gave notice of the May 27 walkout on May 23.