By Samantha Maciag

Health Sciences workers could escalate strike actions

May 31, 2011 | 4:46 PM

The Health Sciences union called a press conference in Regina Tuesday morning to discuss the possibility of escalating strike action or dropping it altogether.

“If they fail to act, they will be directly responsible for the ongoing escalating strike action,” said Cathy Dickson, president of the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS).

The intent of the news conference was to announce that if the Wall government and SAHO would agree to submit their dispute to an agreed on third party for binding arbitration, HSAS would forego their right to strike with respect to the current contract negotiations.

If the arbitration request or a new substantial offer from SAHO doesn't come through, Dickson says that strike action will continue to escalate.

When asked about the possibility of binding arbitration Tuesday morning, Labour Minister Don Morgan said the government would rather focus on mediation or negotiating at the bargaining table.

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“Binding arbitration is the sign that the process has failed so badly that you're going to say to somebody else, ‘Write the contract for us,'” he said.

But Dickson insists a mediator would not be enough, having used one in the past and not finding it useful. She used the analogy of a couple in an abusive relationship at mediation to illustrate her point.

“The power imbalance is so incredibly skewed that it would be the same as us getting together,” she said.

As a result, Dickson says the province will see more strikes from HSAS. But, she admits they would never pull everyone off the job, which would break essential services legislation laws.

“We would never do that,” she said, adding they aren't comfortable with breaking the law and the fines for doing so are “astronomical.”