Whitehorse Daily Star

Haines Junction staff move a step closer to unionizing

It will take some time before the 18 Village of Haines Junction employees have a collective agreement in place,

By Stephanie Waddell on October 28, 2014

It will take some time before the 18 Village of Haines Junction employees have a collective agreement in place, but they are one step closer.

The group was approved last Friday for certification with the Public Service Alliance of Canada/Yukon Employees Union (YEU).

Workers in the village first approached the union last June about becoming unionized.

YEU president Steve Geick said in an interview this morning the workers first approached the union around health and safety concerns and creating “more equitable” conditions in the workplace.

As he explained, in many smaller organizations, a lot of workers perform many different tasks, and this has them looking for consistent policies and procedures in the workplace.

Geick went on to state he didn’t want to venture even a guess as to when Haines Junction workers will have their first collective agreement in place, as there’s a lot of work to do before negotiations even get started.

The union will begin by contacting village officials. Negotiators for each side will then have to be selected.

Geick noted with municipal staff in Dawson City and Watson Lake already under a collective agreement, the union has a “good template” to work with in moving forward with another municipal government.

“We look forward to helping this unit achieve a fair collective agreement,” he said.

“The stability of a contract will help ensure the needs of the workers, the employer and the community are met.”

Keir Gervais, Haines Junction’s CAO, declined to comment this morning, stating he still has to receive notification of the certification.

Comments (1)

Up 12 Down 5

common sense on Oct 28, 2014 at 7:45 pm

When are all the extra taxes & fees going to end in order to pay the higher cost for people to work. Is Mr. Geick trying to blow the cost of everything out of site from a ticket at Air North to living in a small community.

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