As SGEU and SIAST work towards mediation, concerns are rising among union members.
An informational meeting was held on Monday at the SIAST Woodland Campus in Prince Albert to update members on possible candidates to play the role of mediator in discussions.
The Saskatchewan General Employees' Union (SGEU) requested an out of province mediator rather than the government-appointed mediator suggested by SIAST.
“Right now they need to get to the table and it looks like they need to have some assistance in moving this along,” Bob Bymoen, president of the SGEU said.
Earlier this month SGEU issued a strike notice to the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST).
The SIAST administration answered that notice with a lockout notice of their own which has led both sides to seek mediation.
The main disagreements are salary increases and benefits.
The results of the strike vote in early October, showed that 78 per cent of SGEU members voted in favor of a strike. While the SGEU believes this may be the action needed Bymoen said he understands there are members who are worried.
“You know they're definitely out there and I can assure you that every employee at SIAST, every member, is concerned about striking. Nobody wants to strike. We want to get to an agreement,” Bymoen said.
In an email, one member wrote that the nurses they knew do not want to strike.
This SGEU member also said there was a concern that a bargaining agreement wouldn't keep in mind the best interests of the academic and professional nurses. Getting rid of the market stipend was a specific example given about something that would affect nurses negatively.
“The stipend attempts to bring us closer to the wages of … other professional (nurses) — if this gets taken away, SIAST will have an even tougher time trying to find RNs to work here,” wrote the member.
Bymoen said proposals have been brought forward to be debated by the committee and the members have demonstrated support in moving the proposals forward.
“But how they play out has yet to be seen because this employer isn't doing anything constructive at the table in order to get to a collective agreement,” Bymoen said.
Before issuing strike notice, SGEU had gone without a contract for 16 months.
sfroese@panow.com
