Why Kinngait hamlet employees aren't on strike — yet

Tensions seem to remain high between workers for the Hamlet of Kinngait, Nunavut, and the hamlet itself.

Employees are nearing a strike, and in the meantime, the community's mayor says he wants to clear the air on the disagreement between the hamlet and the organizations representing the employees.

In early November, employees in Kinngait voted to go on strike if the hamlet didn't give them a better working contract. 

It came as talks broke off between the parties — Public Service Alliance North (PSAC North), Nunavut Employees Union and the hamlet — during an attempt to reach a tentative agreement with the help of a federal mediator last month, according to a news release from the union at the time.

Wages and workers' rights for leave are at the crux of the disagreement.

A strike deadline of Nov. 22 was set, which would be the first date that a legal strike could happen, and was 21 days after the mediator appointed by Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services reported to the federal labour minister that he was unable to bring the parties to a settlement, according to the NEU.

For the NEU to give notice of strike to the hamlet on behalf of the employees, under the Canada Labour Code, both sides have to reach an agreement called a Maintenance of Activities Agreement (MOAA). It determines which services are essential and must be continued to be provided during a strike. 

But the two sides can't agree on that either. 

Now, it's up to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to decide for them. When that decision comes in, NEU president Jason Rochon said the union can then serve its three-day strike notice. Rochon said it could be days or months before that happens. 

Employees with the hamlet have been without a contract for over two years since the last contract expired in March 2020.

Hamlet says wage offers are fair

Kinngait Mayor Timoon Toonoo said the hamlet is offering an average yearly raise of about one and a half per cent for workers.

"We thought it was a very good agreement for both," Toonoo said. "We could not get more money from somewhere else because we're not tax-based." 

A news release from the hamlet office says it "needs to be responsible in its use of hamlet funds," and avoid going back into deficit.

The hamlet's offer includes annual pay increases over the life of a five-year collective agreement: one per cent in each of the first two years, 1.5 per cent in the third, two percent in the fourth and 2.5 per cent in the fifth year.

It's also offering a 10 per cent increase to the wage grid for the hamlet's "lowest paid positions"  for example, drivers of water, garbage and sewage trucks, heavy equipment operators, radio announcers and more. The hamlet said the increase would be retroactive to 2020.

The hamlet's offer also includes a switch to a northern allowance model instead of the settlement, housing and vacation travel allowance, the release said, and increasing the amount to $17,500 per year — an increase of about $5,000 annually "for most employees."

When it comes to discretionary leave — for example, if an employee has an opportunity to go hunting — Toonoo said the hamlet has been fair to employees.

"We never really turned down employees who want to go hunting or go fishing," he said.

However, if an essential job needs doing, like water delivery, he said that's a circumstance where an employee could not take discretionary leave until the service has been completed.

"It's really never an issue before because we're very open with that. I don't know where [the dispute] came from," Toonoo said.

"I'm hoping that the union would go back to the table and do some negotiations."

Union says pay doesn't take inflation into account

Rochon said that if other communities can afford better wages, Kinngait should be able to as well.

He said Kinngait is "paying among the lowest wages of all communities in Nunavut."

"The wage increases that the hamlet prides itself on offering do not meet the rate of inflation in any of the five years of the life of the proposed contract. They have to do better."

"We really want the employer to just drop the concessions and start negotiating a fair wage so that workers can be compensated for the hard work that they do."

He said the concession brought in by the hamlet on discretionary leave makes it "really hard for for our members to be able to go … and have a harvesting day."

"It seems that there has been no issues with harvesting in the past. And I don't know why they want to bring this up as a concession. We know that that's a colonial attitude," Rochon said. 

Toonoo and the hamlet dispute that characterization.

"This is a misunderstanding of Inuit culture. Having employees continue to do important work for our community is not a colonial attitude," the hamlet news release says. 

"For example, making sure that our community continues to have water delivered and sewage pumped out is a part of Inuit culture, where we take care of one another."