GNWT says bargaining with union has reached impasse

The NWT government says efforts to reach a new collective agreement with the Union of Northern Workers through a mediator have arrived at an impasse.

In bargaining, impasse is a specific term for the point at which the parties feel they can make no further progress through continued negotiations.

In a Monday evening news release, the GNWT said mediator Jacquie de Aguayo – appointed in December last year – recently determined an impasse had been reached.

“At the conclusion of the most recent mediation session on April 20, 2024, mediator de Aguayo noted that the parties are too far apart on key issues to reach an agreement at this time,” the GNWT stated.

The Union of Northern Workers has been approached for comment. The union has said more than 5,100 of its members work for the territorial government.

The GNWT says the mediator has invited “best and last proposals” from each side by May 3, after which she will “issue non-binding recommendations for the parties’ consideration.”

Reaching an impasse has echoes of the circumstances that led to the extraordinary events of February 2019, when the union came within 24 hours of a strike before the two sides agreed to let a mediator settle their differences.

In the build-up to 2019’s last-ditch talks, the union said in October 2018 that three days of mediation had failed. At that time, the union began what it called “strike training” for members.

So far, the situation in 2024 hasn’t reached quite the same level of rancour, though the union has publicly accused the GNWT of opening the door “to contracting out all of the GNWT’s 2,100 healthcare workers” in the way it is trying to handle the use of agency nurses.

“The GNWT remains committed to concluding a collective agreement with the UNW that is fair to employees, fiscally responsible and financially sustainable,” the territorial government said on Monday.

The territory says it is “prepared to conclude a collective agreement that is comparable or better than recent public service agreements reached elsewhere in Canada.” The union has previously said it has a “focus on fair wages” alongside proposals that relate to the NWT’s healthcare system and reconciliation.

The last collective agreement expired in March 2023. Its terms will hold until a new agreement is struck.