Union says Iqaluit Housing Authority has spent $100k on replacement workers
Thirteen unionized authority workers have been on strike since March 17
Striking workers with the Iqaluit Housing Authority picket near Northmart in Iqaluit on Thursday. The strike has entered its third week, with the union saying the housing authority has not returned to the negotiation table. (Photo by David Lochead)
The Iqaluit Housing Authority has spent more than $100,000 on replacement workers over three weeks of an ongoing strike against the authority, according to a national executive with the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Sharon DeSousa, PSAC’s national executive vice-president, was in Iqaluit Thursday to support the authority’s 13 striking workers.
“Why would they not invest in their own workers? It’s actually quite shameful,” she said.
Iqaluit Housing Authority spokesperson Kendra King declined comment when contacted by Nunatsiaq News. She also would not confirm the amount DeSousa said the authority has spent on replacement workers.
The workers moved their picket line to the high-traffic area in front of Northmart on Thursday, and away from the authority’s office close to the airport.
“We thought we’d get more visibility and just wanted a change,” said Nunavut Employees Union president Jason Rochon.
The workers went on strike March 17, then were locked out by their employer on March 19. They are represented by the Nunavut Employees Union, which is a member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Their previous collective agreement expired in June 2020.
PSAC North regional executive vice-president Lorraine Rousseau told Nunatsiaq News on Wednesday there has been no progress in negotiations with the housing authority.
“There is no deal being offered on the table whatsoever,” she said.
“It feels like they’re not bargaining in good faith.”
The housing authority has offered annual wage increases of 1.25 per cent and 1.5 per cent, Rousseau previously told Nunatsiaq News.
Rochon has said the union is striking for fairer wages as well as a better northern living allowance.
He said the union is revealing how much it wants in terms of wage increases because it doesn’t want to bargain in public.
Rochon also said the housing authority wants to compensate some, but not all, of the 13 striking workers for speaking Inuktitut on the job. Rochon said they all should be compensated because they all speak the language and go into Inuktitut-speaking homes as part of their work.
“It’s discrimination,” Rochon said.
He added the union doesn’t agree with the housing authority’s request for concessions on maternity and paternity leave coverage.
Both Rochon and Rousseau also said they oppose the housing authority bringing up replacement workers from the south to work during the strike.
“All that money could be spent on a fair contract,” Rousseau said.
According to Rousseau, the housing authority is not only paying for replacement workers who bring the money they earn back to the south, but it’s providing living allowances for those workers and for legal counsel in negotiations.
Rochon said he has not heard from tenants with housing-related complaints since the workers went on strike.
Rousseau said the striking workers are receiving strike pay from the union. They have been provided food and warming stations while picketing to ensure they are safe as they stand in the cold.
“Our spirits are high and I’m glad our members know their worth,” Rochon said.
Would be interesting to know how PSAC knows what the Association has paid.
I wonder what the overpaid executive of PSAC is paying in strike pay or is that not comparable to what the members are paying in union dues?
Striking members. Is what you accept for an increase going to offset the loss in pay during the strike because of the poor advice of your executive? Something to keep in mind.
Executives don’t pick to strike. Members vote and they decide. Google democracy. All workers deserve a fair wage.
So sayeth an anonymous poster, but actually an expected response.
I suppose the executive doesn’t try to influence any decision of the members through any means.
Need I remind people of the Yellowknife mine murders?
Discrimination needs to stop.
IHA should negotiate. Get back to the table.
I stopped by the picket line last week and told them to keep going! They matter!
Iqaluit Housing Manager along with the Board of Directors needs to realize that these are your staff members, If you don’t keep them happy the work itself will become sloppy or not get done at all.
Iqaluit I’m sure is cheaper than most smaller communities but the inflation past couple years hasn’t help. Most Managers in Local Housing Association only pay $500.00 a month along with the Foreman. I’m sure the servicemen are paying alot more than that.
You have happy staff, you will get the job done and have happy tenants… Sure you might hire casual’s in the meantime but do you have enough certified servicemen who aren’t overworked to do the job?
“If you don’t keep them happy the work itself will become sloppy or not get done at all.“
This is a laughable statement. You obviously have not been in any Iqaluit public housing units lately. They are in a terrible state. The workers on strike are not qualified red seal trades people. The labour being “brought in”
Is contracted trades people to do work the striking workers are not qualified to do.
The union picked the wrong department/entity to try and push wages up. 1. IHAs budget is given to them by the Leg. There hands are tied for more money then what they offer.
2. There is no sympathy from the public or housing tenants. They have been living in substandard neglected units and watch housing workers drive around all day and go to the store with the company truck.
Exactly, the local hires have been apprentices for years because NHC and IHA have barriers in place to keep local workers poor. Structural racism is real. Instead they go south and spend way more money. If you don’t understand or see this you are part of the problem. Racism sucks!
What Barriers? You either get your hours signed off and write your exam or you dont? Thats on the employee not the employer. If they want more money go take the exams!
If they are not getting their hours because IHA has nobody able to sign off then they should find an employer who does! In the south it is on the individual to get their hours and red seal not the employer!
Only in Nunavut do we blame the employer for the employees lack of qualifications.
The Leg needs to step in and help local workers. Has any elected official ever wonder why the GN has recruitment and retention problems. I hope someone steps in and takes a leadership role and stands up for people. I stead they seem to do nothing and collect big salaries
Have anyone else notice better service since the strike started? Even if they have spend $100k in 3 weeks thats not that bad that’s $1.7 Mil per year probably same as it costs to pay the staff that drive around all day and are not even fully certified tradesman
Workers united! don’t give up you’re doing the right thing!
Good for them for striking. Cost of living and doing business continues to increase. Wages need to increase too.
Just because the GN and other places settled for low cost of living increase, does not mean IHA should.
I’m glad those workers know their worth. I agree with Rochon.
Keep going guys
The GN views every worker as disposable. This lockout is proof of that. IHA needs to get back to the table.
Ode To A Scab
After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a waterlogged brain, and a combination backbone made of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles.
When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out.
Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Judas Iscariot sold his savior for thirty pieces of silver. Benedict Arnold sold his country for a promise of a commission in the British Army. The modern strikebreaker sells his birthright, his country, his wife, his children, and his fellow men for an unfulfilled promise from his employer, trust, or corporation
Solidarity wins
NHC and IHA need an overview. How they operate is sad. Workers deserve better.
Why do employers work so hard to not compensate Inuit for speaking their language? When will elected officials step in and stop employers that continue the practice of discrimination.?
Local workers being apprentice for many years because they refuse to hire journeymen. Empower your workers and do better.
Bad employers hire scabs.
Never trust an employer that hires scabs.
Get back to the table IHA and do the right thing. Fair deal now. You dragged your feet long enough.
The Hosuing authoruty has chosen to lock out its workers, and worse, hire scab labour; can someone tell me how scab labour expedites an end to a contract impasse….fact is they don’t scab labour prolonges strikes and discord between employer and employees that can go on years after a workplace stoppage…
Trades people who may have “”hired handred seal certification should no th evalue of a union job, as compared to being a mercenary, and should not be eligible to work in any union hall in Nunavut or in Sothern Canada, going forward…
Focus. Stop distracting people with the replacement labour.
The issue is between management and their employees. The tenants shouldn’t have to be dragged into their dispute nor have their services disrupted.
I agree with a posted Saturday comment, but I will restate for typos and syntax:
The Housing authority has chosen to lock out its workers, and worse, hire scab labour; can someone tell me how scab labour expedites an end to a contract impasse??….facts are “scab labour” prolonges strikes and sows discord between employer and employees that can go on years after a workplace stoppage…
Trades people who may have “”hired hand” red seal certification should know the value of a union job, as compared to being a mercenary, and should not be eligible to work in any union hall in Nunavut or in Southern Canada, going forward…
Syntax corrected; Employer – get back to the table, and end this nonsense…
last agreement ended in 2020? Another great job by the useless NEU.
Negotiations have been going on for a long time. Why should the members take a deal with all the concessions. NEU and its members don’t have to take a deal to suit you or a terrible employer. But I agree with you it’s way too long and the employer needs to do way better.
Many angles to consider. The GN and other governmental employers in Nunavut do have huge issues with how they treat employees. Management is often not fit for purpose and doesn’t seem to care, or understand, about recruitment and retention.
However, the IHA case is a difficult one to get behind. It would not be my first choice of a sympathetic case to support. That whole department is a mess, but is it the workers or the mangers? Hard to say, but they are not a particulary sympathetic case to Joe on the street.
Would the replacement workers be doing a “gooder” job than the regular employees?
Keep them.?