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No strike yet

Business as usual at treatment centre

Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River Reserve (Oct 06/03) - It's still business as usual for treatment centre workers on the verge of a strike.

Workers at the drug and alcohol treatment centre on the Hay River Reserve were in a legal strike position Oct. 3.

However, as of Friday, neither side had given the required 72-hour notice for a strike or lockout. Melvin Larocque, the executive director of the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre, is hopeful a strike can be avoided. "We don't want to disrupt service."

While no talks were scheduled as of Friday, Larocque says the centre is waiting for a response from the union, following an exchange of proposals.

The approximately 20 workers are jointly represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Union of Northern Workers.

The designated UNW spokesperson was unavailable for comment.

The union is seeking to renew a contract signed three years ago, although the centre claims the contract is overly generous and compromises the care it can offer to clients.

Negotiations began in April, but broke down in late September. Nats'ejee K'eh is the only drug and alcohol treatment facility in the NWT.