Unifor national president Jerry Dias speaking ahead of contract talks at Hotel Saskatchewan on Sept. 26, 2019. (Andrew Shepherd/980 CJME)

By Andrew Shepherd

Sasktel Strike

Province set to table new offer to Crown union ahead of possible strike

Sep 26, 2019 | 5:10 PM

About 3,000 unionized workers at SaskTel could go on strike as early as Monday if a deal isn’t reached.

Unifor and the Crown corporation started two days of talks Thursday and the union said if a collective agreement cannot be reached, job action is set to begin Monday at 12:01 a.m.

SaskTel is one of seven Crown corporations in a legal strike position but is so far the only one whose members have served a strike notice.

Unifor wants Premier Scott Moe or one of his ministers at the table to become directly involved in the bargaining process. However, that invitation was declined in a letter given to Unifor national president Jerry Dias moments before he spoke to reporters ahead of talks on Thursday at the Hotel Saskatchewan.

In the letter, Moe said his cabinet ministers have never got directly involved in the collective bargaining process and didn’t feel it would be appropriate this time either.

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Dias said the government can’t have it both ways by mandating a wage freeze on Crown unionized employees while claiming to take a “hands-off” approach on collective bargaining.

“We’re dealing, frankly, with companies that are saying to us, ‘Listen, we can’t do anything. Our hands are tied behind our back. The government is mandating the wages or lack of wages that we have to offer,’ ” said Dias.

“It’s clear who the puppet master is here and that’s what we’re trying to do is get (the government) involved so that the companies that we’re working with will have the ability to negotiate a fair deal,” said Chris MacDonald, the assistant to Unifor’s national president.

Unifor called the initial offer of a two-year wage freeze followed by a one-per-cent increase in 2021 “insulting.” It’s asking for what it considers fair, a 2.3-per-cent pay increase like the one the premier and MLAs got.

“What I can’t understand is the sheer hypocrisy because if it’s good enough for them, then certainly the workers that generate the profits — and a significant amount of profit is poured back into our communities — deserve better than zeroes,” said Dias.

Talks are not solely focused on money but also on job security. Union members are also concerned about jobs being replaced by contractors.

The province said in an email Thursday afternoon that it has tabled new offers to the seven Crown corporations. However, it will not share details of the new offers out of respect for the collective bargaining process.

The province added that while job action is the right of unions, it feels a strike is not in the best interest of the Crowns, Crown employees, Crown shareholders and the people of Saskatchewan.

Before seeing the offers, Dias said if the Crowns come back with the same wage freeze offer, Unifor will reconvene to decide if its members will be going on strike.

If there is a strike at SaskTel, the government said it has business continuity plans in place and will use management staff to continue serving Saskatchewan people.

Unifor represents a wide range of employees from those in retail stores to call centres to technicians installing lines. The union said its members would only show up to work if there is an emergency.

With the potential for job action to follow at six other Crown corporations affecting a total of approximately 4,300 to 4,400 unionized employees, the government said it has legislation in place to ensure essential services continue to be provided.