Unifor notifies SaskTel of potential strike unless agreement is reached

SaskTel has been warned of a possible strike by Unifor if a collective agreement has not been reached within the next several days.

The union has delivered a strike notice to the Crown corporation which would begin at 12:01 a.m. on September 30.

Unifor’s SaskTel members were in favour for a strike mandate back in July. Negotiations at the bargaining table fell through last month; Unifor said the offer was “insulting”.

SaskTel workers could be striking with potentially six other Crown bargaining units after SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SecureTek, the Water Security Agency and SaskWater all voted for strike mandates. This would affect around 4300 to 4400 unionized employees.

“While there is potential for several bargaining units to take job action at the same time, we have legislation in place to ensure that essential services continue to be provided to the people of Saskatchewan,” said Minister Donna Harpauer.

“We respect the collective bargaining process, including the right to strike.”

About 3,000 SaskTel employees are represented by Unifor.

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