SIAST is stepping up its defensive posture in contract negotiations by giving the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees union a 48-hour lock out notice.
The union provided notice that it would take job action, meaning it could potentially strike by midnight. In response, the educational institute sought government intervention in the form of a mediator.
According to SIAST's vice-president of human resources Gary Earles, a decision could not be reached between the two groups over whether or not the appointed mediator should be from in- or outside the province.
“We’re asking the minister to appoint whoever they see fit and then I guess it’s up to the union to whether they agree with this approach or not and then we’ll go from there,” said Earles.
At the same time, SIAST has issued a 48-hour lockout notice, giving the union until midnight Nov. 14 before the school is legally allowed to shut the union out.
Earles stressed that is just a bargaining chip to add to the school's resources and that there was no guarantee the school would take that course of action.
“It’s just an option. Whether we use it or not depends on what transpires in the next days or weeks,” said Earles.
He added however that it is SIAST's position that a lock-out instigated by the school would be better than a rotating strike from the union because it would reduce the complexity of the situation.
“If we ended up with some targeted strikes, where (the union) is just taking out a few employees out of particular area here or there over the next days or weeks, that makes it very difficult to plan very difficult to provide services,” he said.
“So we may decide at some point in time that we’re better of dealing with a known entity, something that we know and expect, if we’ve initiated the lockout.”
The SGEU declined to comment on the situation.
Check back with paNOW for more as this story develops.
adesouza@panow.com
Previous related stories on paNOW:
– Nov. 12 – SIAST students support strike, worry about fees
– Nov. 12 – SIAST strike looms closer
– Nov. 11 – SIAST ready with contingency plan
– Nov. 10 – SGEU talks break off with SIAST
– Nov. 10 – Strike notice served to SIAST
