The new year is bringing the same failed negotiations as the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) demands higher salaries for its employees, says the union president.
The possibility of a strike has been on the back burner since January 2016, when initial talks began.
Now, in 2018, UNW president Todd Parsons said since positions have not changed it's time to bring it to the forefront and adds meetings for a strike mandate will begin in the next three weeks, with a final vote being held at the end of March.
“In this case I'm sure the members are prepared to fight because in recent days since we left the table our members are very frustrated, angry and upset and what I'm hearing in the meetings is 'when can we strike?'” said Parsons.
“Balancing that expectation from our members and trying to still get the deal has to be the focus that we need to be on.”
Since the initial bargaining talks began, the main focus for the 4,000 unionized employees has been wages.
A package proposal for collective bargaining from the GNWT to the UNW states the government acknowledges and appreciates the union has withdrawn many of its monetary proposals, however the union will not budge on its request to a three per cent wage increase per-year over a three years.
The counter offer from the GNWT proposes a one-per-cent increase from April 2017 to April 2018 with a raise of 1.1 per cent in 2019 plus an additional increase of $250 to the Northern allowance.
“The GNWT and UNW have a four-part agreement in place and all requirements must be met,” said GNWT Department of Finance spokesperson Todd Sasaki. “The GNWT remains committed to reaching a collective agreement through the bargaining process and is willing to return to the table at any time.”
Sasaki added before the UNW can legally strike, it must meet the four requirements laid out in the process and to date only one of the criteria has been met, the expiration of a collective agreement.
Parsons said he speaks for all union members when he says the initial counter offer from the GNWT will not cut it.
“We been at the bargaining table this week with Government of the Northwest Territories and it was unproductive to say the least,” said Parsons. “The next step in our process is to go out with our members and ask for a strike mandate ... hopefully that will be enough to encourage the GNWT to come back and provide us with a fair and reasonable offer.”
The two sides have been able to reach some common ground on mental health initiatives. Such as proper mental health services are essential in creating a better workspace, however the union is looking for a different approach.
“We want to look at this more broadly and we acknowledge we need to protect our employees in all aspects of life,” said Parsons. “We prefer a broader approach and we would like to follow the standard on psychological well-being, not something solely something here in the NWT which is yet to be developed.”
Parsons is referring to the government's continual initiative of helping survivors of residential schools.
The last issue the union is hoping to resolve is job security. Parsons gave the example of correctional officers in the GNWT system.
“The employer has approximately 100 correctional officers working in the NWT and approximately 100 relief employees to back-fill positions and we are trying to correct that,” said Parsons.
“It's becoming harder and harder to find common ground to resolve some of the simple issues,” said Parsons. “It's always in the interest of our members to maintain a working relationship with this employer and any employer, which we strive to do with all of our employers. With that said, our members set the priority as a union.”