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Union and employer in numbers standoff
Can't agree on how much the cost of living rose in Nunavut

Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Monday, July 27, 2015

IQALUIT
It's a war of words over numbers as Qulliq Energy Corporation workers continue to strike over their desire for a cost of living increase, while the government maintains its offer includes an appropriate increase.

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Qulliq Energy Corporation workers wave to the public as they march by North Mart in Iqaluit July 22. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo

At issue is the government's position that the average cost of living has increased one per cent.

"The cost of living in Nunavut - as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Iqaluit - grew by about one per cent each year between 2009 and 2014," states a government news release describing the Nunavut Employees' Union's recent statements as "misinformation."

"Canada and Nunavut are in a period of low and stable inflation - the cost of living in Nunavut is high, but is not expected to increase significantly over the coming years."

For Jack Bourassa, the Public Service Alliance of Canada regional executive vice president for the North, it's simply "propaganda."

"It's only based on those figures obtained in Iqaluit, not the rest of the communities," Bourassa said, referring to the basket of goods purchased year-over-year to determine changes in the index. "Even on their own website, the CPI from June 2014 to June 2015 was 1.9 per cent, not one per cent."

Plus, executives are getting rich while workers are forced to strike to get pay that maintains their standard of living, Bourassa said.

"The president of QEC got something like $40,000 given to him," he said, pointing to about $300,000 in bonuses the government gave to upper management. "There's not a fair distribution of wealth within the GN and the employees are the ones who are going to pick up the tab for it."

And while those executives are unaffected financially by the strike, workers surviving on strike pay are being squeezed by the government, he said.

"The very first day they went on strike, QEC issued a notice to the employees that their housing subsidy was going to be lost," Bourassa said, adding that their health coverage would also be cancelled immediately. "They're going to get only a fraction of what they make (by being on strike), but what that does is put a gun to the heads of their families and children."

He said the government tactics go against Inuit Societal Values, including respect for others, decision-making through consensus, fostering good spirits by being open, and providing for family and community.

One example of this came at the final negotiations that led to the strike action, when Bourassa alleges Nunavut negotiator Glenn Tait dared Nunavut Employees' Union president Bill Fennell to call for a strike.

" 'You guys threatened to go out on strike in December, and you didn't,' Tait allegedly told Fennell. 'You threatened to go out on strike in January, and you didn't. You threatened to go out on strike in March, and you didn't. We've been trying to avoid a strike. And then he finished by saying, 'We're still waiting.' " Bourassa said.

There are no signs the two sides will meet soon, with the government insisting its December offer remains fair.

"The average wage increase for contracts ratified in 2013 (across Canada) was only 1.4 per cent, the lowest average since 1997," states the government release. "Additionally, more than 25 per cent of Canadian employees covered by agreements negotiated in 2013 received no wage increase. In comparison, QEC is offering a six per cent salary increase over four years, with no benefit decrease."

Meanwhile, the government is starting to bear the pain of a strike, with Bourassa pointing to at least three firms that are refusing to cross the picket line to perform work for QEC.

Both sides say they are ready to negotiate an end to the dispute.

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