It looks as if the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) is trying to get itself a bit of leverage in its talks with the NWT Power Corporation on a new collective agreement.

The UNW is in the midst of holding strike votes around the territory before the next round of talks between it and the employer next month. The first vote occurred in Fort Simpson on Aug. 12 with the Hay River vote happening at the Ptarmigan Inn on Aug. 14. Fort Smith had its vote at the Salt River First Nation Cultural Centre on Aug. 19.

The last round of negotiations this past May in Yellowknife failed to yield any sort of deal. The UNW stated that the power corp. "tabled numerous restrictive and unrealistic concessions/rollbacks, including an insulting wage proposal" in its own update following those talks.

"We believe several of their proposals would be detrimental to the current and future workforce and have attempted to explain to the Employer how their out-of-touch proposals would impact the bargaining unit," stated the union.

Both sides have been working under the terms of the previous collective agreement that expired in December 2022, one that was achieved in April 2019 through 11th-hour mediation by mediator Mort Mitchnick. The UNW had indicated that it would hit the picket lines if no deal was in place by April 8 that year.

Following the last set of talks, union negotiators indicated that both sides are still too far apart and mediation could once again be a possibility.

Since the deal expired, both sides have met for a total of three rounds of bargaining since November 2023. There is no indication of what the UNW is seeking in terms of salary, benefits or other details and the power corp. isn't saying anything, either.

Doug Prendergast, the power corp.'s manager of communications, told SA国际影视传媒 that there would be no specific information shared "about what may or may not occur as negotiations resume."

He also wouldn't speculate about the outcomes of the strike votes.