KUGAARUK/PELLY BAY - Full-time, part-time and seasonal employees working at the Hamlet of Kugaaruk have ratified their inaugural collective agreement on May 31.

Senior administrative officer Andre Larabie said the deal, effective April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2012, was reached following one year of negotiations.

"Both parties are pleased of the outcome," he said. "The council of the Hamlet of Kugaaruk is very pleased we have been able to reach an agreement with our employees, that they will finally have a collective agreement for both sides to work with."

The agreement calls for pay increases of 3.25 per cent in both April 2010 and April 2011 and a three per cent pay increase in April 2012, he added. Larabie said the Northern allowance will increase $2,000 in 2011 and $1,000 in 2012.

"We're catching up to what the real cost is to get out of Kugaaruk," he said.

Employees working for the hamlet, such as a justice or alcohol and drug workers, whose salaries are paid for by the territorial government will be protected under the agreement, said Larabie.

"There will be a period where we (the hamlet) are not terminating people but trying to see if we could renegotiate with the government to keep these people employed," he said. "So that gives a job security to a certain extent."

Negotiations between the parties concluded in mid-May, said Larabie. The territorial government had appointed a conciliator earlier this year to deal with the agreement's outstanding issues.

"All parties have negotiated in good faith," he said.

The Public Service Alliance was not available to comment.

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