SaskTel workers hit the picket line

As of 12:01 a.m. Friday, about 5,000 employees at seven crown corporations in Saskatchewan went on strike.

In Saskatoon, workers began to show up on the picket line early Friday morning.

Charmaine Dumont-Budd on the SaskTel picket line Oct.4, 2019.
(Brent Bosker/650 CKOM)

Charmaine Dupont-Budd said this is her second time being on strike in her 24 years at SaskTel.

The first time, she didn’t have a family to worry about. This time, she is worried about having enough money to care for her children.

” I’m a mom of three. It’s real, it’s very disheartening.”

Dupont-Budd said it’s especially frustrating considering the time of year when there are back to school expenses, and the Christmas holidays are just around the corner.

“You just kind of wonder how you’re going to pay your bills,” said Dupont-Budd.

Steve Adair has been with SaskTel for 15 years, and this is his first time on the picket line. He said a lot of the workers are feeling frustrated because the labour talks aren’t going in their favour. He said they are just asking for fair compensation, like standard of living increases.

“There’s a lot of stress involved too. Everybody’s got kids and mortgages and vehicle payments, so yeah, there’s a lot of stress.”

Adair said he is also hopeful both sides can get back to the table.

‘Hopefully, the government’s going to come to their sense:’ Unifor pres

“Simply put there’s no other option. We’re dealing with a government (Saskatchewan government) that’s calling all the shots but is saying to us ‘look we’re taking a hands-off approach’,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias told John Gormley.

One of the major sticking points through negotiations is wages.

Dias said the union tabled a proposal, asking for increases consistent with inflation, but never heard from the crown negotiator.

“It’s not a decision that is taken lightly,” he said of the strike. “Ultimately this is a dispute that’s caused by the province of Saskatchewan. Scott Moe has his fingerprints all over this.”

The province said there are contingency plans in place to maintain essential services during the strike.

Dias hopes the strike will be short-lived.

With files from Brent Bosker