On October 29, 2019 the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC-North)/Nunavut Employees Union (NEU) Bargaining Team declared an impasse in mediation with the Government of Nunavut (GN). The Team was hopeful of reaching a deal in mediation during a scheduled meeting in Iqaluit. However, the Bargaining Team declared an impasse less than a day into the process after concluding that the GN was bargaining in bad faith.

 

Both parties in labour negotiations have an obligation to make good faith efforts to try to reach a Collective Agreement.  The GN’s most recent offer clawed back roughly half of their previous offer on the Nunavut Northern Allowance and maintained an offer on wages that is well below inflation.  The PSAC-North/NEU Team had already rejected a June 6, 2019 offer. This rejection triggered mediation and the GN returned to the table with a worse offer. This is what is usually seen as the definition of ‘bad faith’ bargaining.

 

The PSAC and NEU must now consider the next steps.  A bad faith bargaining complaint will be filed with the Nunavut Court of Justice. A meeting of NEU and PSAC officials and officers has been called to discuss the next steps. As soon as the next steps become clearer, we will communicate what these are to NEU Members as soon as is possible.

 

As always, your PSAC-North/NEU Team is committed to pushing for a fair agreement for all NEU Members. We appreciate your continued support and solidarity!

 

In solidarity,

Your PSAC-North/NEU Bargaining Team

 

Noel Collins, Simon Doiron, Linda Hunter, Ruth Kaluraq, Abe Qammaniq, Rick Roberts, Bill Fennell (NEU President), Darren Pacione (PSAC Researcher), and John Eustace (PSAC Negotiator)