Insurance strike short-lived
>> Saturday, June 25, 2011
SGEU workers picket at the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance offices in Regina on Friday.
Photograph by: Troy Fleece, Leader-Post, Leader-Post; StarPhoenix
A brief strike by crop insurance workers came to an end as the two sides reached a settlement Friday, just one day after the provincial government pledged to legislate an end to the walkout.
The tentative agreement means the legislature will not be recalled for an emergency sitting Monday.
The terms, which include a 5.5-per-cent wage increase over three years, contain little beyond what was offered by the government before the strike.
But the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU) negotiating committee felt it had little choice but to come to an agreement with back-to-work legislation looming, said chairman Alan Evans.
"We took the course to negotiate the settlement instead of having interference and the elected officials choose our destiny for us," Evans said.
Premier Brad Wall had harshly criticized the strike by 470 crop insurance employees as unacceptable because of the severe flooding in southern Saskatchewan. He said the workers, who walked off the job Tuesday, needed to be on hand to process claims this summer from farmers unable to seed their fields. "I'm grateful that both sides were able to hammer out an agreement," Wall said Friday.
While the Saskatchewan Party government was prepared to legislate the workers back, Wall said the province was not planning to impose a contract.
"That's always an option ... but it ought never to have been mentioned in the room because that was never the position of the government," the premier said.
The union had been seeking a general wage increase of 7.75 per cent over three years.
The 5.5-per-cent wage increase that was agreed to is what crop insurance management had on the table before the strike began. However, the two sides agreed to some savings in the contract, which allows for an additional 0.25 per cent general wage increase in the third year of the agreement.
As well, an overnight allowance of $25 a night for employees who travel away from home for more than three days will start after the third day, and employee and employer contributions to the pension plan will increase to 7.25 per cent from seven per cent of gross regular salary for employees.
The contract is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2009, when the previous agreement expired, and will last until Sept. 30, 2012.
Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said crop insurance workers began returning to their jobs Friday afternoon.
"I'm hoping by Monday morning we have a full complement of employees processing the applications that have come in. As of this morning we have about 6,500 unseeded acreages claims in and that number is growing," Bjornerud said.
NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter said he was pleased with the settlement, but said it showed Wall had made a mistake and overreacted when he decided to recall the legislature.
"My view is that they could have got the settlement for sure without the threat. It might have taken a few weeks longer," said Lingenfelter, who suggested the premier overstated the urgency of the situation.
He said he expects there will be political fallout from the strike.
"Many, many working families are upset with Premier Wall and I think this just adds another group. Many of these 470 people, I know many of them because many of them live and work in the community where I farm ... I would think the majority of them voted Sask. Party last time and I think many won't next time due to the disrespect they showed."
But Wall noted that back to work legislation has been used by NDP governments in the past.
"This isn't anyone's preferred course," Wall said.
"Certainly not mine, not the government's but I just felt, we felt, that it was the right thing to do at this time."
The tentative agreement means the legislature will not be recalled for an emergency sitting Monday.
The terms, which include a 5.5-per-cent wage increase over three years, contain little beyond what was offered by the government before the strike.
But the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU) negotiating committee felt it had little choice but to come to an agreement with back-to-work legislation looming, said chairman Alan Evans.
"We took the course to negotiate the settlement instead of having interference and the elected officials choose our destiny for us," Evans said.
Premier Brad Wall had harshly criticized the strike by 470 crop insurance employees as unacceptable because of the severe flooding in southern Saskatchewan. He said the workers, who walked off the job Tuesday, needed to be on hand to process claims this summer from farmers unable to seed their fields. "I'm grateful that both sides were able to hammer out an agreement," Wall said Friday.
While the Saskatchewan Party government was prepared to legislate the workers back, Wall said the province was not planning to impose a contract.
"That's always an option ... but it ought never to have been mentioned in the room because that was never the position of the government," the premier said.
The union had been seeking a general wage increase of 7.75 per cent over three years.
The 5.5-per-cent wage increase that was agreed to is what crop insurance management had on the table before the strike began. However, the two sides agreed to some savings in the contract, which allows for an additional 0.25 per cent general wage increase in the third year of the agreement.
As well, an overnight allowance of $25 a night for employees who travel away from home for more than three days will start after the third day, and employee and employer contributions to the pension plan will increase to 7.25 per cent from seven per cent of gross regular salary for employees.
The contract is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2009, when the previous agreement expired, and will last until Sept. 30, 2012.
Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said crop insurance workers began returning to their jobs Friday afternoon.
"I'm hoping by Monday morning we have a full complement of employees processing the applications that have come in. As of this morning we have about 6,500 unseeded acreages claims in and that number is growing," Bjornerud said.
NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter said he was pleased with the settlement, but said it showed Wall had made a mistake and overreacted when he decided to recall the legislature.
"My view is that they could have got the settlement for sure without the threat. It might have taken a few weeks longer," said Lingenfelter, who suggested the premier overstated the urgency of the situation.
He said he expects there will be political fallout from the strike.
"Many, many working families are upset with Premier Wall and I think this just adds another group. Many of these 470 people, I know many of them because many of them live and work in the community where I farm ... I would think the majority of them voted Sask. Party last time and I think many won't next time due to the disrespect they showed."
But Wall noted that back to work legislation has been used by NDP governments in the past.
"This isn't anyone's preferred course," Wall said.
"Certainly not mine, not the government's but I just felt, we felt, that it was the right thing to do at this time."
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