Job action set to begin at seven Crowns starting Monday: Unifor

Job action at six Saskatchewan Crown corporations and a provincial agency is set to begin Monday at 12:01 a.m., Unifor announced on its website Saturday afternoon.

“For the past few days, representatives from all bargaining committees have been working to try to find a fair collective agreement for all parties. Despite all of our efforts to find a compromise, the government mandate for a two-year wage freeze remains the only offer made by employers,” Unifor bargaining committees wrote in a letter to their members on Saturday.

“At all bargaining tables, the companies are offering 0%, 0%, 1%, 2% and in some cases an additional year at 2%. No additional monetary offers (eg. pension or lump sums) were considered by employers.”

However, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer maintains “this is not a wage freeze.”

“As publicly communicated by Unifor, the offer from employers to all seven tables amounts to five percent over five years,” Harpauer wrote in a media release Saturday evening.

Work-to-rule action to start Monday, says Unifor

For the first four days of the job action, unionized employees are instructed not to do any overtime and to disregard the company’s performance targets.

“You should not be doing anything over and above the minimum that is required to do your job safely and effectively,” the bargaining committees wrote.

If an agreement isn’t reached before Friday at midnight, all seven Unifor bargaining units will go on strike.

“A strike on Friday is a last resort, but we are running out of options to achieve the contract Crown workers deserve,” the bargaining committees wrote.

While Harpauer said the governmnet respects the right of Unifor members to take job action, she noted the province believes “a strike is not in the best interest of the Crowns, Crown employees, and Crown shareholders — the people of Saskatchewan.”

Should Unifor go on strike Friday, Harpauer emphasized that “essential services agreements and business continuity plans are in place at all Crowns to ensure vital services to Saskatchewan people continue.”

The Unifor bargaining committees represent SaskTel, SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SecurTek, DirectWest, SaskWater and the Water Security Agency.