Battlefords employees with Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation are among those walking the picket lines this week.
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, Crop Insurance employees walked off the job in what the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union (SGEU) calls "their continuing effort to reach a fair and equitable collective agreement."
The SGEU represents approximately 470 SCIC employees working in the AgriStability and production insurance programs. SGEU members in the Battlefords were walking the picket lines as of Wednesday morning, along with crop insurance employees in the rest of the province.
The strike affects all of SCIC's 21 rural offices across the province including its head office in Melville. SCIC delivers crop insurance, AgriStability and the wildlife damage compensation programs to farmers and ranchers around the province.
Negotiating committee chair Alan Evans said in a statement Tuesday the union is interested in reaching a negotiated settlement but talks have stalled, and they say SCIC is not interested in addressing the economic issues faced by workers. Their collective bargaining agreement with the corporation ran out in September 2009.
"We haven't kept up with the rate of inflation in 25 years," said Evans in a statement. "Now we are being offered 1.5, two and two per cent, for a total of 5.5 per cent over three years. This is unacceptable. We provide prompt and efficient delivery of insurance requirements for farmers and are worthy of a reasonable pay increase."
Tuesday the government responded to the walkout with a news release expressing concern about the timing of the walkout, which coincides with major flooding in the province. The southeast region, around Estevan and Weyburn, have been hard-hit with heavy flooding in the past week.
"Given the flooding challenges facing many producers, the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) is disappointed the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU) instructed its SCIC employee members to walk off the job as of 2 p.m. today," the province stated in a news release.
The province said Tuesday that SCIC considers the 5.5 per cent general wage increase over three years "a fair, competitive offer that is reflective of other public sector settlements."
They also stated the SGEU also withdrew their initial wage demand of 7.75 per cent over three years and has no monetary demand on the table at this time.
In spite of the labour disruption SCIC says all efforts are being made to serve customers as efficiently as possible, and they will continue to conduct business at its customer service offices throughout the province. They plan to maintain regular office hours but there may be delays at the AgriStability call centre and through the customer service office toll free lines.
As well, crop insurance customers can still continue to send seeded acreage reports and leave a message should they need to speak to a customer service manager or register a claim.
The walkout is just the latest in a long line of labour disruptions affecting Saskatchewan this summer. SGEU members at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency locations in Saskatoon and Regina walked off the job as well on Tuesday. Health sciences workers have been holding rotating walkouts across the province. As well, the labour dispute between the government and Saskatchewan Teacher's Federation continues, with the teachers union's job actions currently put on hold until a mediator's report comes back.
