Hay River Reserve (Nov 13/06) - A proposal by the Nats'ejee K'eh board of directors is "very disappointing" for employees, said Anne Juneau, regional representative for the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

Employees of the addictions treatment centre have not been at work since Oct. 23. They filed 72 hours notice of a strike vote, but employees said they were locked out of the building before the time was up. A proposal for a new collective agreement was received by the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) last week. The old collective agreement expired in 2003.

"We were not pleased with the employer's position," said UNW president Todd Parsons, of the proposal. "We are currently preparing a counter-proposal."

The employer's proposal "guts" benefits, he said.

"It totally deletes maternity leave," he said, "and makes it possible for the employer to terminate an employee without any possibility of union recourse."

The union would consider the employer's proposal of cutting benefits, he said, if wage increases were offered to bring them up to parity with similar positions at the government.

Melvin Larocque, the centre's executive director, was unavailable for comment, but has previously said that the board was working diligently to create a proposal as fair as possible. Other board members could also not be reached.