If there was any good news after talks between the territorial government and the union representing 3,800 GNWT workers were cut short last month -- without an agreement -- it was that both sides appeared to blink.
The Union of Northern Workers wasted no time warning it would strike if “provoked” but have happily punted the ball until after Christmas. The GNWT, likewise, though maintaining a hard line on pay increases the first two years of a collective agreement, laid out a number of goodies it was willing to offer in a post-mediation session memo while insisting it remains prepared to “meet with the union at any time.”
Both parties appear to recognize they are in a Cold War of only Pyrrhic victories and mutually-assured destruction. Neither side can win heading to battle stations. They can only lose, as would the entire territory.
The fact of the matter is the GNWT is far too big and its workers too important to the economy of the Northwest Territories for it to withstand a strike without sustaining serious damage, even if it were a relatively short one.
Most workers heading into a strike hope for a short one but there is no telling what will happen once the genie is out of this bottle. Just ask the town workers in Hay River who on Feb. 9, 2015, went on strike for six months -- six months of strike pay, juggling mortgage payments, power bills and ceaseless fear and uncertainty.
For the GNWT, a strike would mean 16 per cent of the territory's labour force out of work – potentially in the dead of winter when businesses who serve these workers are at their most vulnerable. The disruption to our already fragile economy would likely be ghastly and catastrophic. It would be the very definition of cutting off one's nose to spite the face.
The UNW has had great success over the years winning concessions from the GNWT, from wage increases to increased lieu time, that routinely outstrip the private sector. The union even convinced the GNWT to turn the once maligned “Donny Days” -- enacted by former premier Don Morin as a cost-cutting measure in 1996 -- into a cheery little Christmas perk of five additional paid days of vacation. It was such a victory, it caused UNW president Todd Parsons to publicly muse how they should be renamed “Todd Days.”
Well, the GNWT has been saying the party is over for the last three years now. It's more than $1 billion in debt and has been unable to influence a negative demographic trend that continues to see people leave the territory. It faces a daunting future of mine closures and crippling capital costs.
Two years of no pay increases is tough but many people outside the GNWT have it tougher.
On the other hand, the UNW has signalled it is close to an agreement. Its communique to government workers Oct. 27 states, even though mediation had failed to reach a deal, it had “made significant movements on our proposals.”
At this point, it appears most of what remains is a face-saving exercise. The GNWT should help the union find that avenue and it doesn't appear it would need to break the bank to do it.
There are reasons to be hopeful but these a dangerous times. An accident of tongue or pen can do much damage. The GNWT and union must try to avoid both in pursuit of a deal. They have waited this long, there is no need to rush. For the sake of the territory, just get it right.