Saskatchewan Crown corporation employees represented by Unifor are scheduled to walk off the job on Friday morning.
Nearly 5,000 workers at SaskTel, SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SaskWater, DirectWest, SecurTek and the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency are poised to strike at 7 a.m. if a tentative agreement cannot be reached.
In a press release, Unifor said its various offers to find a resolution to the ongoing contract dispute have all been rebuffed by the provincial government, leaving the union with no other option than to strike.
"Contract negotiations must be about a give and take 鈥� but the Moe government's refusal to bargain fairly is driving Saskatchewan towards a major service disruption," said Jerry Dias, Unifor national president. "Unifor has presented creative offers to find a path forward, but the government seems intent on forcing a strike."
Some Crown bargaining committees鈥� collective agreements have been expired for two years or longer, the union said, in an attempt to find a solution to the government's proposed wage freeze mandate. The union says it recently offered to accept lump sum payments in lieu of a base wage increase in the expired years of their contract.
In the most recent offer, committees have also made offers to accept wage increases of two per cent in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Serious non-monetary issues relating to job security remain outstanding.
"What's good enough for politicians should be good enough for the families of Crown workers," said Dias. "Given the healthy cost of living increases to 小蓝视频 salaries, Crown workers are 小蓝视频 more than reasonable in their position."
SaskTel said it will make every effort to minimize the impact of a labour disruption to customers by having its management team maintain services. While SaskTel will do its best to continue to serve customers, delays may be experienced as the primary focus will be on maintaining the networks and services for customers.
The Crown corporation says contract negotiations between Unifor and SaskTel have been ongoing since Jan. 29 when initial proposals were exchanged. On March 25, Unifor advised SaskTel that, in its opinion, a bargaining impasse had been reached and they would be applying to the Federal Minister of Labour鈥檚 office for conciliation. A conciliator was appointed and bargaining between SaskTel and Unifor continued until Sept. 26.
SaskTel Stores will be closed during the labour disruption. Also, during this time, SaskTel will be unable to activate new home services or transfer services when moving. SaskTel will also be unable to activate new business services, excluding wireless.
