Yellowknife (May 12/06) - The NWT Power Corporation and union representatives for its 200 employees across the territory will head into the mediation process next week to try and hammer out a new collective agreement.

The workers have been without a collective agreement since January 2005. The employees are represented by the Union of Northern Workers (UNW).

Unable to come to a resolution last November, both parties walked away from the bargaining table, but have since agreed to mediation to sort out their issues.

"I can't say either way," said Barb Wyness, public relations officer for UNW, on how she thought the mediation process would go. "But this is the next step without a collective agreement."

From the union's perspective, it wants to see employee evaluation move to the "Hay Plan," in which employees' salaries are based on responsibilities, rather than qualifications. As well, the union wants to see extended working hour shifts for "essential services" only.

"People who work emergency calls understand they could be working 10, 12-hour shifts, four days straight," said Wyness. "But for office workers, there's no need for them to be included in this rescheduling."

Salary increases and grievance arbitration are also on the table as both sides prepare for next week's mediation.

From the power corporation's perspective, it won't discuss the upcoming talks.

"We don't negotiate through the media when we go into negotiations," said Chris

Zorica, who works for the corporation's marketing and communications division. "We hope that through mediation, we can reach something that both parties are happy with."