Union seeks annual wage hikes plus fuel payments
Union of Northern Workers calls talks last week with GNWT 'futile'
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, October 7, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A bi-weekly fuel and utilities payment and three per cent wage hike for three years are among the latest demands from the Union of Northern Workers as talks with the territorial government over a new collective agreement drag on.
Union of Northern Workers president Todd Parsons, shown earlier this year in the union's new downtown headquarters, stated he's disappointed more progress hasn't been made to reach a new collective agreement with the GNWT. - NNSL file photo |
The GNWT rejected the demands which were estimated to cost $11.8 million this fiscal year. Together with previous proposals during negotiations that began in January, the government estimates the new items would cost $29.8 million this fiscal year.
The demands and response in documents posted online following three days of scheduled negotiation sessions last week come as cabinet ministers plead poverty and government jobs have been slashed.
The territorial government has said it has no money for wage increases in the first two years of a new collective agreement with its 3,900 unionized employees represented by the union.
"The GNWT proposes a four-year collective agreement with modest salary increases in the third and fourth years," the GNWT responded. It proposed a one per cent increase April 1, 2018 and again the following year.
The union issued an update to its members last week calling the latest round of talks "futile."
"We are very disappointed that the government bargaining team has not come to the table prepared to engage in meaningful negotiations about issues important to our members," stated union president Todd Parsons in the update.
The two sides had not previously exchanged wage proposals. Previously, rounds of talks had focused on other issues, with the union calling much of what's been agreed to so far "housekeeping" items.
The union has sought to have the government workers get a three per cent salary increase each year for three years to keep up with the territory's increasing cost of living.
"The employer has rejected our efforts to improve any wages or allowances that would allow families to keep pace with the rising cost of living in the Northwest Territories," Parsons stated. "This is unacceptable. The public service should be more important than roads and bridges."
Yet three per cent eclipses recent increases in inflation, according to data from Statistics Canada.
From August 2015 to August this year, Statistics Canada estimates the cost of an average basket of goods known as the consumer price index - including housing, food and electricity - increased 0.4 per cent in Yellowknife. The rate of increases in the cost of living have slowed recently. For instance, there was a 1.7 per cent increase from March 2015 to March this year.
The union's fuel and utilities allowance proposal would be paid to every employee with a base rate of $500 per year for those in Yellowknife.
It wasn't clear what the allowance would cover, such as home-heating fuel, electricity or gasoline for privately owned vehicles.
The fuel allowance would be calculated in a similar way as the Northern Allowance. The rate paid would be updated annually.
The GNWT has rejected the idea of the allowance, again claiming it has no money to pay for it.
In May, the sides discussed which employees would be considered essential should a labour dispute arise. However, Parsons said at the time they were nowhere near a strike.
If the sides fail to reach an agreement during negotiations, a mediator can be brought in to try and bridge the gap.
If that also fails and union members give a strike mandate, a labour dispute could take place, Parsons said.
The talks for a new collective agreement have ground on since January this year to replace the agreement that expired March 31. As talks continue, employees continue to be covered by the previous agreement.
There's no dates posted for when talks continue, though the union's update states it will spend the next two months consulting with its members.
