Province turns down Unifor’s offer to go to arbitration, end strike

The union representing striking employees at Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations has proposed arbitration to end the impasse, but the province has turned it down.

During a hastily arranged media conference late Friday afternoon in front of the SaskPower building, Unifor national president Jerry Dias said the union and the Crowns are “all in sync when it comes to the outstanding non-economic issues.”

That means financial issues are the main hurdle in the negotiations. The government’s offer doesn’t include any salary increases over the first two years of the deal.

The union has long complained about the salary offer in light of the pay increases MLAs have received. Dias repeated the union’s claims that the province is being hypocritical, so he made his offer Friday to Premier Scott Moe.

“We are proposing, in order to get all of our members back to work, that you agree to final and binding arbitration on all of the outstanding economic issues,” Dias said.

“If in fact your government is not mandating the strike, you’re not mandating the economics, then we will agree to have a third-party arbitrator look at the economic feasibility of the Crowns, look at the rate of inflation and make a decision outside of your government’s interference.”

In an emailed statement sent out after Unifor’s news conference Friday evening, Blair Swystun, president and CEO of the Crown Investments Corporation, said: “The Crowns will not be agreeing to binding arbitration. We believe agreements can be reached by continuing to bargain in good faith.”

Union repeats call to get Premier Moe to the bargaining table

Dias also repeated the union’s call to Moe to get involved in the negotiations — something the premier already said he won’t do.

Moe sent a letter to the union Sept. 25 saying he was going to let the collective bargaining process play out, but Dias believes Moe is operating behind the scenes.

“Premier Moe, you can’t say that you’re not going to participate and remove yourself from the collective bargaining process yet be in complete control of the management’s collective bargaining agenda,” Dias said.

“To tell us you’re not going to participate and then meet with the Crowns and give direction like you did today is frankly, Premier, a lie.”

Nearly 5,000 Unifor members at seven Saskatchewan Crowns went on strike since Oct. 4. The Crowns in question are SaskTel, SaskPower, SaskEnergy, SaskWater, the Water Security Agency, SecurTek, and Directwest.

The labour dispute has featured a march through the streets of Regina, complaints about the tactics used by the union, and a tentative agreement between a bargaining unit and the Water Security Agency that the union called disappointing.

The Crowns’ negotiating teams and those of the union were at the bargaining table for informal talks on Thursday and again Friday, but they haven’t reached an agreement.

Again, Dias pointed the finger at Moe, saying he told the Crown corporations what to offer.

“These companies are looking for a solution,” Dias said. “They know they can pay and they are as frustrated as we are. There’s 5,000 people on strike and the employers know as well as we do that the agreement could be had in a moment.

“We all know that the only reason that there’s a dispute is because of you, Mr. Premier.”