To all PSAC-UNW Members at the Government of The Northwest Territories and Hay River Health and Social Services
Your Union bargaining team met with the GNWT’s bargaining team in Yellowknife April 13 – 24.
Since the previous GNWT bargaining session, a senior parallel bargaining team comprising Josée-Anne Spirito (REVP PSAC North), Jeff Groenewegen (UNW RVP Hay River), Gayla Thunstrom (UNW President) and Erna Post (PSAC negotiator) was established to discuss the potential inclusion of Hay River Health and Social Services Authority (HRHSSA) into the Public Service Act as GNWT employees.
This team achieved a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Employer that was ratified by Local 21 members and subsequently the GNWT Financial Management Board earlier in April. The MOA provided for two Local 21 observers to this round of GNWT bargaining as, effective April 1, 2027, HRHSSA will fall under the GNWT collective agreement. We are pleased to welcome Cassandra Gagnier and Barb McKay from Hay River to the team as observers.
Typically, following the initial exchange of proposals, we move into exploratory discussions on operational matters. Quite often this includes revisiting some of the more complex proposals a number of times to ensure there is a clear understanding of the concerns behind each proposal.
Several editorial changes were agreed to during this session and are ready for sign offs, but overall, we are still at the very early stages of bargaining.
Your team continued to develop the bargaining conference mandate into proposals. The Union requested and received an Employer presentation on emergency preparedness. The Union subsequently proposed collective agreement improvements designed to support and protect employees in the event of future mandatory evacuations or emergencies.
The team also proposed that the current Safety and Health Article be updated to keep pace with legislative changes, and Article 40 amendments were submitted to the Employer for consideration.
Lastly, in addition to the proposals noted above, we continued discussions on Injury on Duty Leave, and the use of AI in the workplace.
The next bargaining dates are set for July. Your team will meet in June to finalize a comprehensive financial proposal.
In the meantime, if you have any bargaining questions you can reach out to one of your bargaining team members or connect through the dedicated email for your questions: GNWT@psac-afpc.com
In solidarity,
YOUR BARGAINING TEAM
Marie Buchanan
Cee Birch
Jabin Carrasco
Andrew Gregory
Jeff Groenewegen
Tamara Holliday
Gayla Thunstrom, UNW President
Erna Post, PSAC Negotiator
Ted Klassen, PSAC Research Officer
Chris Parsons, UNW Director of Membership Services
Caitlin Lacey, Political Assistant to the UNW