The way the GNWT is proposing to implement it is unacceptable to our members. With approximately 1,600 members, the Nunavut Employees' Union is the newest addition to the Public Service Alliance of Canada, formed out of the Nunavut members of the Union of Northern Workers. That's because Inuit birthright corporations and in some cases, the federal government, are offering salaries and benefits that are more attractive than the current GNWT pay scale. I think they're going to have a hard time keeping employees. Negotiations between the NEU and the UNW continue toward an equitable division of union assets in Nunavut.
Union dues are to remain frozen at current levels for the next four years.
Union delegates elected their first executive committee during last weekend's founding convention. Regional vice-presidents for the North Baffin, South Baffin, Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions were also elected. The Nunavut Employees Union currently represents most GNWT staff in Nunavut as well as municipal workers and Housing Corp. employees in the communities. Among other things, delegates voted to translate all future correspondence with regular membership into Inuktitut, Innuiaqtun and English. Recruitment drives outside traditional public sector work sites are also planned.