Negotiations between the management of Many Rivers Counselling and Support Services and the Yukon Employees Union (YEU) representing the workers broke down Oct. 30.
The employees have been without a contract since the end of March, said Steve Geick, president of YEU. Negotiations began Oct. 24 and lasted until halfway through Oct. 26, when “things came to light” during the bargaining that something in the contract was “against union core values.”
Geick said that he could not comment on what that was, only that it “would be in violation” of the constitution of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the organization which represents the workers.
PSAC and the YEU are representing between 15 to 20 workers for the counselling service, said Geick. Many Rivers has three offices in the territory, in Dawson City, Watson Lake and Whitehorse.
“Day-to-day business for people using these counselling services will not be affected at this time, he said.
Presently, the union is reviewing with its legal department in Ottawa to “see what the next steps might be,” before resuming negotiations.
“We’re always willing to (go back) to the table … we’re just taking some time to work out our options now,” he said.
Contact Lori Fox at lori.fox@yukon-news.com