QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE -Resolute needn't worry about striking postal workers and garbage collectors, for now.

A potential strike was avoided this week when the hamlet agreed to meet with union negotiators Oct. 25 to 28, according to Doug Workman, Nunavut Employees' Union president. About 25 hamlet employees - members of NEU - voted to take strike action on Oct. 15.

The issue is primarily the lack of a collective agreement and with it, pay raises for the staff, Workman said. Negotiations started in February this year but hit an impasse in June.

The negotiations were difficult because the hamlet did not know its Government of Nunavut funding levels until mid-July.

"They were a little late this year," said Resolute SAO Duncan Walker. "We couldn't even look down the road to know what we were going to have on hand."

As it turns out, the hamlet is running a small deficit.

"We cannot put us further into a deficit situation because our employees are being unionized," Walker said.

The wage increases requested are more than the hamlet can afford, he said.

The union is unsympathetic. The employees have not had a pay increase for three years, Workman said, something he calls "really punishing" for the workers and their families.

"The employers are crying poor, we hear this quite a bit," he said. "They've a modest deficit but it's certainly something they can work on."

While not getting into specifics, Workman said they are looking for something similar to what GN employees got last summer, which was a 17 per cent raise over four years.

The union is also requesting that northern living allowances be on par with the GN, said Walker.

"Individual hamlets don't receive the same level of funding the GN has access to so it's hard to accommodate that request," he said.

Another problem is that the majority of the employees are employed by third-party contract, Walker said, with Canada Post for example.

"When these contracts are entered into, they're already negotiated for a certain rate, to be able to offer more than what was negotiated is kind of hard."

The 25 workers, including part-time and casual staff, cover such tasks as road and airport maintenance, postal services, and hamlet administration.

"Certainly the intention here is not to go on strike," Workman said. "We want a ratified collective agreement, but one that's going to respect workers and compensate them reasonably."

It's very expensive to live in Resolute and the present wages don't recognize that, Workman said.

A federally-appointed negotiator will mediate the end-of-month negotiations. Workman and Walker both said they hope an agreement can be reached.

When negotiations recommence, "I will be pretty sure we'll be able to offer something," said Walker. "I obviously can't get into details."

If it comes to a strike, essential services such as snow removal and airport maintenance will continue, Walker said, according to an essential services agreement that will be negotiated.