Most GN workers to receive 9% wage bump
Salary increase comes into effect Sept. 30; follows government’s first salary review since 2000
Human Resources Minister David Akeeagok announced Friday in the legislative assembly that most Government of Nunavut employees will get a nine per cent pay increase this fall. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Most Government of Nunavut employees can expect a bump in their pay this fall when a newly announced nine per cent salary increase takes effect.
David Akeeagok, Nunavut’s Minister of Human Resources, announced the increase Friday in the legislative assembly.
GN employees represented by the Nunavut Employees Union, senior management, and excluded employees will see a nine per cent increase that comes into effect Sept. 30.
Teachers and Qulliq Energy Corp. employees are not included, as they work under separate collective agreements from the rest of the public service.
Positions that are more senior or specialized will get an 11 per cent pay bump, according to a joint news release put out by the GN and the union Friday.
The extra two per cent allows for “role progression and incentives for employees to take on added responsibilities,” the release said.
A recent job ad for a community health nurse includes a salary range that starts at $109,029. A nurse hired today at that rate would see their pay go up to 118,841.60 when the raise comes into effect. That brings in an extra $377.41 to a biweekly pay cheque, before deductions.
The total annual cost to the GN of the wage increases will be $33 million, according to Irma Arkus, communications manager for the Department of Human Resources
The pay bump follows an independent review that compared GN salaries to those of similar positions across Canada, Akeeagok said.
A May 2023 request for proposals for the salary review indicates the GN had not conducted such a review since 2000.
At the time, the GN’s employee vacancy rate was 37 per cent.
Akeeagok said in the legislative assembly that the mass raise is intended to ensure the GN remains an “employer of choice.”
“I cannot emphasize strongly enough that our employees are this government’s most valuable resource,” Akeeagok said.
“Ensuring that they are well compensated is crucial to retaining current staff and attracting new employees to Nunavut’s public service.”
His statement was met with applause from MLAs on both sides of the chamber.
After legislative proceedings wrapped up Friday, Akeeagok said in an interview he’s happy with the salary increase and hopeful that upcoming contract negotiations will be positive.
The GN and the NEU will be negotiating a new collective agreement when the current one expires Oct. 1.
“The end goal is that we need good staff in our public servants, and in order to do that one of the big factors is to have good pay and good benefits,” Akeeagok said.
The Nunavut Employees Union is “delighted” that the GN is addressing wage gaps, said union president Jason Rochon in Friday’s joint news release.
“We look forward to working with the GN in future negotiations to avoid falling behind again,” he said.
I work at North Mart, barely get by, can I get a raise with you guys?
I know a lot of GN workers that don’t do much, can we get their raise?
As noted in the article, there’s many vacant positions in the GN. If you’d like raises the GN provides, why not apply for a job there?
You’re right, there are a lot of people warming chairs in the GN. I often think about this because there certainly are people working at northmart, or community coops putting in much more effort for a fraction of the reward. Life is not fair to be honest with you. I know some will say they worked hard to obtain an education and so deserve those rewards. They are right too, they leveraged their abilities and their access to education to their advantage, so good for them. The problem is not them after all, it’s a system of rewards that distributes unevenly, and worse, under whose conditions many work very hard for so little. I wish there was an answer to this.
Real Sluffi; pl get to where they are at their position, culprit? They are usually highly educated they did not quit high school education, they carried through thick and thin, I/E wife is Inuk, McGill educated, she a bread winner in our household. Like many with grade12 B-, I take what I can and we manage. Stop bashing NWC, you didn’t have to be there only because you quit at Gr 7. We all have choices.
Some people in the workplace are highly educated, but I would say that overall they are a minority (the distribution of ‘highly educated’ to the average education probably depends on the workplace as well). Still most GN employees are at, or even below a grade 12, again, and by far, most.
Once you get the required education and experience? Sure. By all means.
Earn it and not have it handed to you just because….
Maybe in iqaluit but in the small communities getting a good gn job depends on who your friends and relatives are
Baker Lake is a perfect example of this.
Not just GN. Also the municipality and local boards.
I know people in the GN, even in middle management, who don’t even have a grade 12. So, while education often matters, it does not always make the difference.
Don’t You get 20% discount on all your purchases, probably more today than 20years ago.
Raise after Raise Inuit own money not being shared. Maybe they need io have a percentage of what they do and then get a raise they already make enough money and things nerds to be fair even behind the lines.? work is repeated when not things ae taken care of. Nunavut is in Housing crisis/Family/Mental Health ect . We need Safety across the Territory even people with Disability. PRIORITY First? Elder’s are abused daily/
I always find these announcements a bit overkill since the government than takes back 3-5% of the 9% raise in taxes.
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Can we infer NEU is done its negotiation for the next collective bargaining given expired CA?
GN increases its per diem travel compensation to account for inflation but doesn’t touch the Northern Allowance. Translation: they recognize higher costs but don’t provide universal compensation.
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Upper management wants a 11% raise to compensate for inflation but doesn’t want to give the same inflation compensation to everybody else.
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Solution: give 2% more to management than they give to the people who actually do the work. NEU response: No grift or graft here folks, move along, move along.
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Nunavut needs a multi-party electoral system. Consensus government doesn’t work except for the people with the biggest families who elect themselves.
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#porkbarrel #corruption #cronyism #patronage #accountability
Seem like the 11% mostly gonna be for the yt ppl 🤔
Pay Range 18-25: is Senior Advisor/Professionals and Middle Management.
Senior Managers are 9% not 11%
Good on you GN workers. I personally know many who are good hard workers. Many have to be as there are vacant positions therefore many GN workers are carrying the workload of their own plus of those positions that are vacant. I expected that there would be many commenters who are jealous and resentful for not being lucky enough to have a GN position. My message to you is to just work hard, get your education and one day you too can have one of these great paying positions. And to all of you hard working GN employees, GOOD JOB!!
Excellant factual comment.
The whiners here will use any excuse and blame others for their own shortcomings.
Then go on Facebook, after their appointment with income support, pleading for food and diapers for their kids, while they huff and puff on their cigarettes and dope, etc.
No sympathy here folks.
How much is there at NTI FUNDS? it’s not me who earns 400K.
Surely the NTA has been working hard from their golden troughs to make sure teachers are keeping up with this 9% increase?
Hope Mr. Fanjoy takes that seriously. Not really sure what he does but makes over 200,000 a year and didn’t help me with my problem.
Basically they do squat…
They do not get involved in matters related to Housing, they are not involved in matters related to pay and payroll, and they never keep the GN or Dept of Ed in line (especially not since a certain Dictator became Deputy Minister who does know how to play a certain card). They do however – collect exorbitant salaries, have housing/homes in Iqaluit, set up scholarships for their own children, house BBQs for Iqaluit, get themselves rings and travel around unnecessarily on the pilfered money of their Members.
Summed up perfectly
The FAT get FATTER…the GN does not see grey, it feels more like ‘Plutocracy.’
I thought we all had to pay the same cost of living up here in the north, hmm guess not. I guess we all don’t pay the same prices for food, gas, housing etc.. Must be nice living high up in the ivory towers while the rest of us peasants who do all the work for the higher ups get 2% less. Yes of course some have higher education than myself but there are lots who are in jobs because of race or newfy status who don’t do much or know much for that matter, but because they have been living here for 20 years they get jobs they shouldn’t be in. In the end the small guy gets shafted again… Peasant rant over