Strike notice served to 6 Sask. Crown corporations, 1 Crown agency

Strike notice has been servedto the provinceby the union representing workers for six Saskatchewan Crown corporations and one Crown agency.

The unionfor SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SecurTek, DirectWest, SaskWater and the Water Security Agencyfiled a notice of job action on Thursday evening. They join SaskTel who had previously filed strike notice.

The Crown workers could take job action beginning Monday, September 30. Unifor said negotiations will still continue through September 29.

"It's time to stop the games. The Premier and MLAs gave themselves a 2.3per cent increase and Crown workers deserve a raise too," Unifor National President Jerry Diassaid in a statement.

Previously, negotiations were going on between the province and Unifor in an effort to prevent possible job action.

Before the strike notice was issued, new offers wereon the table for each of the seven organizations, according to Finance Minister Donna Harpauer. In a statement, she said they wouldn't be sharing details of the offers "out of respect for the collective bargaining process."

The government announced last week thatUnifor received a strike mandate from its membersworking withSaskTel, SecurTek, DirectWest, SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SaskWater and the Water Security Agency.

If the scheduled negotiations fail,Unifor members at SaskTel are set to begin job action at 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 30. That could include "work to rule" and bans on overtime.

Unifor's national president,Jerry Dias, said earlier Thursday morning that the offers to date had not been acceptable. He said he took issue with the fact that elected officials approved a 2.3 per cent raise for themselves, but not for workers.

"What I can't understand is the sheer hypocrisy. Because if it's good enough for them, then certainly the workers that generate the profits ... deserve better than zeroes," he said earlier Thursday.

A previous offer from SaskTeloffered athree-year deal, which saw a zero per cent increase in the first two years and aone per cent increase in Year 3.

Harpauer's statement issued before the strike mandatesaid"while job action is part of the bargaining process, and is the right of unions, our government feels a strike is not in the best interest of the Crowns, Crown employees, and Crown shareholders the people of Saskatchewan."

The finance ministeralso said earlier Thursday that continuity plans and essential services agreements are in place should job action go ahead.

On Thursday morning, Dias said he wants a deal to be reached.

"We're here to negotiate in good faith. But we can't do that in isolation of the corporations and the government."