More than a year after unionizing, staff at Home Base Yellowknife and the Foster Family Coalition of the NWT are set to vote on tentative collective agreements.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board certified the Public Service Alliance of Canada as the bargaining agent for employees of both organizations – which share an executive director – on April 11, 2024. The union subsequently began negotiations with the employers.
Last month, the union and employers entered conciliation, an alternative dispute resolution process in which a neutral third party assists an employer and union at an impasse in negotiations to reach a collective agreement.
In an email to Cabin Radio, PSAC North spokesperson Aaron Manton said the union and employers reached tentative first collective agreements on the second day of conciliation.
He said those deals are now subject to ratification by staff at the organizations and the employers.
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“Workers will have the opportunity to vote on the agreements at a series of information session/ratification vote meetings in the coming weeks,” he wrote.
Decertification application dismissed
While an employee of Home Base had applied to decertify PSAC as the bargaining unit for staff of the organization in September 2025, the industrial relations board – known as CIRB – dismissed that application in a unanimous decision on October 30.
The employee had told CIRB they felt their “voice had not been heard” during the initial campaign to certify the union. They claimed they were excluded from organizing meetings due to their alleged friendship with Home Base’s executive director.
The employee further said they had concerns with the elected bargaining committee, which led them to tell the union on April 21, 2024 that they no longer wanted to be contacted.
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In rejecting the decertification application, CIRB concluded the union had “made a significant effort to negotiate a first collective agreement” including “robust and regular communication with members.”
The Canada Labour Code protects bargaining units from revocation in cases where no collective agreement is in force unless CIRB determines the union has “failed to make a reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement.”
According to CIRB’s decision, prior to conciliation, PSAC and the employer had negotiated for a total of 16 days and agreed on all issues save for wages, leave entitlements and the effective dates for a two-year collective agreement.
