Union tight-lipped about wage-benefit talks with City of Iqaluit

Muhamud Hassan, Iqaluit’s chief adminstrative officer, has been trying to institute cost saving measures since being hired six months ago but the city gave no comment when asked about collective agreement talks currently underway with the Nunavut Employees Union over a new contract for unionized staff. (FILE PHOTO)

A wage-freeze that the cash-strapped City of Iqaluit imposed on non-unionized staff recently has complicated negotiations for a new collective agreement with its unionized workers, the president of the Nunavut Employees Union said.

“Suffice to say, when I say that it saves no money for the city. It’s just, ‘look what I can do’. [That’s] in my opinion,” Bill Fennell told Nunatsiaq News.

“I think it’ll be interesting to see what transpires after the next round in a couple of weeks.”

The non-union wage freeze coincides with the start of collective bargaining talks with the NEU, which represents the city’s unionized workers.

The last three-year wage-benefit deal between the city and the union expired this past December.

The first round of talks between the city and union representatives for a new deal took place during a one-week period this past February.

“The members aren’t looking for the moon and the stars, they’re looking for what’s reasonable,” Fennell said.

Fennell would not comment on specific issues under negotiation but he said there has to be “open and clear communication” between negotiators.

“We’re not bargaining in the media,” he said.

City officials were unavailable for comment.

Iqaluit City Council hired Muhamud Hassan as Iqaluit’s new chief administrative officer in March 2015, six months after previous CAO John Hussey was dismissed by the city.

Hassan has since coordinated several deficit-cutting measures to help control spending.

Approximately 600 buildings in Iqaluit on trucked water service have seen service cutbacks in recent months.

The move led to opposition and a new phrase coined and shared on social media: “Waterless Wednesdays.”

In February, councillors passed bylaw amendments increasing rates for water and solid waste pickup.

The two-year wage freeze affects about 10 to 15 employees, Hassan told the CBC last week.

Iqaluit’s deficit sat at around $8.2 million dollars at the end of last year.

“If we went to any financial institution right now, they would just look at us and laugh,” Hassan told city councillors during a regular meeting in November 2015.

Other bylaws that city council passed prohibit long-term financial projects without extensive debate.

And the “Iqaluit Annual Budget Bylaw” reiterates a requirement of the territorial Cities, Towns and Villages Act that the city maintain a balanced budget from year to year.

Iqaluit’s next regular city council meeting is scheduled for March 22.