The Canada Industrial Relations Board has offered to help Hay River’s health authority and the Union of Northern Workers reach a deal, the union says.
The offer comes after the board decided the union had declared an unlawful strike earlier this month.
The two sides have been negotiating since 2022 to replace a collective agreement for 240 staff that expired in 2021.
While both sides say progress has been made in recent talks, the union says the latest day of bargaining involved “very minor amendments and no change on the major issue of compensation.”
The union has now revoked its September 8 strike declaration in keeping with the labour board’s decision.
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The UNW had declared a strike on that date without any actual strike beginning, a move designed to preserve the right to strike beyond the usual 60-day limit granted by a strike vote. In this case, those 60 days included weeks in which the town was under an evacuation order.
The labour board’s ruling means a new strike vote will now be needed for any job action to begin.
