Tentative labour accord at Water Security Agency

Unifor urges rejection of ‘inferior’ deal, first reached in strike at Crown agencies

Unifor is urging members at the Water Security Agency (WSA) to reject a tentative deal reached Thursday, while insisting the “inferior agreement” will have little impact on its six other bargaining tables.

The 140 Unifor members at WSA are already back on the job on a work-to-rule basis. An upcoming ratification vote will determine whether they abandon job action that has affected seven Crowns and roughly 4,600 workers.

The tentative deal is the first reached at any of the tables. The government announced it Thursday afternoon, but declined to reveal any of the details in advance of ratification.

The government commended Unifor Local 820, which represents the WSA workers, for its “constructive approach.” It expressed hope that other bargaining units will follow suit and return for another round of negotiations.

“Directwest is already at the table with its local and the other five Crowns have just sent invitations to their respective Unifor locals inviting them to return to the bargaining table to try to reach agreements,” said a statement from executive council media relations officer Matthew Glover.

But Unifor said in a news release that its members at other Crowns are “disappointed” to hear about the tentative agreement, which it said still includes a two-year wage freeze. The union has refused to accept employer offers with a fiveper-cent salary increase over five years, but with two years of zeros up front.

Scott Doherty, executive assistant to Unifor national president Jerry Dias, said there had been some movement in the offer, though he would not confirm specific numbers.

“It’s not the same deal as the zero, zero, one, two and two,” he said. In his view, the deal “very likely could be ratified” by WSA workers, though he feels the terms would be unacceptable to other workers who remain on strike.

Unifor sent media a statement that came out hard against the tentative agreement.

“Unifor and some of the bargaining committee will be recommending the members reject the inferior deal but will respect the decision of the members as they vote on the agreement,” it said.

Crown workers have been striking since Oct. 4.

The dispute heated up on Monday, when Unifor blocked a Sasktel call centre and then pitched a back-to-work plan it promptly reversed after Sasktel had warned that it would lock out employees.

But Water Security Agency workers headed back to work the next day for work-to-rule job action.

Just hours before the strike began two weeks ago, Unifor national president Jerry Dias insisted that members would not accept a separate deal.

“We understand that there’s strength in numbers and we understand solidarity,” he said.

“So we have done this as a collective and we are going to find conclusion as a collective.”

Despite the movement at WSA, Doherty said members remain united.

He played down the significance of a tentative deal at one Crown agency for what happens at much larger bargaining tables at Crown corporations like Sasktel and Saskenergy.

“We’re not concerned about the other tables,” he said.

“First of all it’s an agency, it’s not one of the Crowns. So that’s a significant difference. It’s a small group.”

Doherty said the dates of the ratification vote will be pinned down soon, though he expects it to take time, given the need to reach members around the province.

Local 820 also represents a separate bargaining unit of Saskwater employees, who remain on strike. Saskwater spokeswoman Courtney Mihalicz said the two sides have not returned to the table.

“Nothing has changed,” she said in an email.

Unifor members at Saskwater and WSA saw their contracts expire on Dec. 31, 2017. WSA spokesman Patrick Boyle said things “really came together” over the past couple days.

He said WSA’S relationship with unionized workers has remained strong despite job action. “We really never cut communication off from our union,” he said.