Yukon government workers ratify new tentative agreement

Members of the Yukon's largest public sector union have ratified a new deal with the territorial government.

Voting wrapped up Monday. The Yukon Employees Union represents 3,500 territorial government workers. The exact results of the vote weren't immediately available.

According to a copy of the agreement obtained by CBC News, the union won its two main demands: an across-the-board pay hike of 4.5 per cent in the first year of the deal, and three per cent in each of the next two years. The contract would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022 and run until the end of 2024.

The government also backed off a proposed change that would have frozen severance pay.

The deal would buy the government at least 18 months of labour peace. YEU president Steve Geick has said the bargaining process was among the longest he'd ever seen, with talks breaking down several times, and hitting an impasse even with a federally-appointed mediator trying to help the two sides reach a deal.

The tentative agreement came on the verge of a strike vote, which Geick said would have been a first.

"We've never had to do this before, to go to a strike vote, so I I'm just happy it's over," he said. "Nobody really wants to have a strike. It doesn't necessarily do much for either side."

Geick said a "large majority" of union members voted in favour of the deal. He would not give a specific figure.

The contract will cost the government an extra $50.6 million. Sandy Silver, the minister responsible for the Public Service Commission, said the deal will help workers manage the cost of living and help the government keep health care workers, in high demand across the globe, happy.

"It does so much for our retention and our recruitment ... that we got to a place where we could agree upon without having to go to a strike," Silver said. "Anybody who's looking to the Yukon to move here to work in the healthcare industry, seeing the numbers might be helpful."

The tentative agreement also includes major concessions aimed at retaining health care staff. Nurses will get 15 to 19 per cent more over the life of the deal, while midwives will get  22 to 25 per cent raises in the first year of the deal, with smaller raises in the third year.

There are also retention bonuses of up to $18,000 for senior nurses, bonuses of up to $6,000 for paramedics and $3,000 for corrections workers. The deal would also double the wage premium earned by auxiliary on-call workers in lieu of benefits. 

The deal also includes major changes to the language surrounding workplace violence and harassment, including a new option for informal dispute resolution.

And Indigenous employees will now be eligible for up to five days of unpaid leave for cultural and traditional practices.