NTI office workers join union

JOHN THOMPSON

A union certification drive inside the offices of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. in Iqaluit has succeeded.

That means about 36 employees at the workplace are now represented by the Nunavut Employees Union, which is part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

To be certified, more than half of the workplace needed to sign union cards. That sign-up drive began before Christmas last year, said Doug Workman, president of the NEU.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board approved the certification on June 12. Employees submitted their application for certification on Feb 22.

The next step is negotiating a collective agreement with management, Workman said. The union has sent a letter to NTI’s chief executive officer to set up negotiation dates.

NTI employees outside of Iqaluit are not included in the union. That’s because communicating with employees in the communities proved difficult, Workman said.

Nunavut’s land claims organization isn’t exactly known for paying poorly. If anything, NTI has a reputation for luring employees away from the Government of Nunavut with promises of plum salaries.

Workman said he couldn’t get into details about why employees wanted to unionize, because of the upcoming negotiations.

But he did say that job security was the number one reason for unionization.

And employees want consistent employment terms, Workman said. Presently, those terms vary widely, depending on who was president of NTI at the time of hiring, Workman said.

He named workplace conditions as another concern raised by employees – but said he couldn’t provide any details.

There could be more Nunavummiut carrying union cards before the year’s over. Workman said his union is in contact with workers in municipalities outside Iqaluit and in other organizations – although he wouldn’t specify if that includes Nunavut’s regional Inuit organizations.

“It’s really up to the members of the workplace to come to us,” he said. “I’d recommend to anyone thinking about unionizing to call after work.”