Bargaining Update: City Refuses to Address Members’ Concerns

Bargaining Update

City Refuses to Address Members’ Concerns

The UNW/PSAC bargaining team is ready to go back to the table any time the City of Yellowknife is willing to negotiate seriously. By presenting a final offer before negotiations were scheduled to end, the Employer ignored many issues.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

There are more than 10 demands related to work-life balance that the City of Yellowknife has ignored in their final offer. Some of them are:

- Better vacation accrual

- Addressing the cap on lieu-time

- New medical travel leave

- Implementing Employee Health and Wellness initiatives

- Improved casual leave

- New emergency leave The list goes on.

Work-life balance is clearly an important priority for the bargaining team, but the City chose to end negotiations without addressing it.

KEEPING UP WITH THE INCREASED COST OF LIVING

The Employer has refused to increase the housing and vacation allowances; they have only agreed to shuffle money around. Furthermore, the annual wage increases offered by the City do not even match the projected increase of the cost of living for 2019 and 2020. The City’s final offer would leave members with weaker spending power, interfering with your ability to keep up with the increased cost of food, utilities, childcare and other necessities.

CONTRACTING-OUT

The City of Yellowknife has sent emails to members with assurances that they claim address key issues, including contracting-out. Those emails leave out much more than they explain. Promises and assurances are of zero value if they are not in the collective agreement. The employer must walk the talk, return to the bargaining table, and put its promises into the collective agreement. Again, the UNW/PSAC bargaining team is looking forward to and is prepared to go back to the table anytime the City of Yellowknife is willing to negotiate seriously.

Together, we are strong and united. UNW/PSAC members deliver quality public services to Yellowknifers and we will continue to work towards a fair deal that will let us do just that.

In Solidarity,

Your UNW/PSAC North Bargaining Team:

Holly Ferris

Reilly MacNeil

Geraldine Penny

Bob Taylor

Martin Rioux, PSAC Negotiator