Qulliq Energy Corp., union reach tentative agreement on new contract
New agreement still subject to ratification; previous deal expired at end of 2020
Qulliq Energy Corp. and the Nunavut Employees Union have reached a tentative contract agreement, according to a news release from the Government of Nunavut. (File photo)
Qulliq Energy Corp. and the Nunavut Employees Union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, both parties announced Wednesday in a news release.
The agreement was reached June 24 after three sessions of collective bargaining.
Qulliq Energy Corp. is the sole power distributor for Nunavut. It’s 100 per cent government owned, but operates at arms-length from the GN, and reports to the GN’s minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corp.
The energy corporation’s previous agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2020, according to the release. Nunatsiaq News asked the Nunavut Employees Union, GN Department of Human Resources, and Qulliq Energy Corp. why it took 18 months to reach a new agreement, but nobody responded to this question.
Previous updates posted on the union’s website show some struggles at the bargaining table earlier this year.
In an update dated March 25, the union told its members the two parties had exchanged their proposals and “debated them in detail,” but Qulliq had held back on delivering a wage proposal.
In an April 27 update, the union told its members that Qulliq had put forward a wage proposal, but the parties had made little progress otherwise.
Qulliq Energy Corporation and the union are not sharing details of the tentative agreement until it has been ratified by both sides, according to Matthew Illaszewicz, the communications manager of the GN’s Department of Human Resources, and James Kaylor, a communications officer for the Nunavut Employees Union.
“There is no agreement yet, it’s tentative,” Illaszewicz said in an email. “The GN cannot give any details until the tentative agreement has been ratified by all parties.”
At the time of publication, representatives from GN, Qulliq Energy Corp., and Nunavut Employees Union did not answer question about how many employees the tentative agreement affects, or a schedule for when ratification votes are to take place.
They also did not answer whether the tentative agreement will be retroactive, if ratified.
Didn’t the GN and the NEU also reach an agreement?
NEU just got a deal for the Housing Association too! Hall Beach is on the NEU radar now too. lots of deals.
Is the NEU president going to tour all 25 communities to explain the proposed agreement to all the QEC employees?
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How does this proposed agreement differ from the proposed agreement between the NEU and the GN that has been “on the road” since February?
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What about the teachers, will they also be offerred a 1% increase? When will they be in a position to go on strike? Remember, most teachers can do math.
Bwaaahahahaha. Tickled me: “Remember, most teachers can do math.”