Iqaluit Housing Authority reaches agreement with Nunavut Employees Union

The Iqaluit Housing Authority and its 12 unionized workers have reached a collective agreement after a strike that lasted more than 130 days.

The Nunavut Employees Union (NEU), which represents the workers, sent out a media release late Monday confirming a deal had been reached. The tentative agreement was presented to the NEU members and ratified on Tuesday.

"I don't believe there's such a thing in North America as a perfect collective agreement. I've never seen one and I've looked at thousands of them, but I'm very happy with this," NEU President Jason Rochon told CBC News on Tuesday.

"I'm really happy that people knew their worth — and we're talking about mostly young workers — and it was really nice to see them come together and use their voices."

Iqaluit Housing Authority Board of Directors Chair Eiryn Devereaux sent CBC News details of the tentative agreement in a statement. They include an 11.5 per cent wage increase spread over five years and retroactive to 2020, and a signing bonus of $3,500.

The deal also includes a $500 increase to the language bonus, the addition of National Truth and Reconciliation Day as a paid holiday, and added leave days for things like Inuit cultural activities, parental leave, domestic violence and professional development, among other items.  

"The employer, in this case Iqaluit Housing Authority, is committed to all of its employees, and also to welcoming back all the unionized staff and to take one day at a time to get past what's been going on for the last four or five months," Devereaux told CBC News.

The statement calls the deal a "fair settlement," and says unionized employees can return to work on Thursday.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, Rochon said that "the NEU is committed to encouraging all employers across Nunavut to recognize the importance of Inuit traditions, culture and language in the workplace."

He said the agreement serves as a model for recognizing "the true value and identity of local workers."

The tentative agreement was reached days after Housing Minister Lorne Kusugak temporarily added six members of the Nunavut Housing Corporation to the Iqaluit Housing Authority's board of directors. The move was seen as a positive step by the Nunavut Employees Union at the time.

The immediate focus of the move was to get a deal, according to the statement from Kusugak that announced the changes. Now, the board members will focus on stabilizing operations at the authority and start the process to find new board members.

"We appreciate that the intervention of the minister responsible for housing and the Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) allowed for meaningful negotiations that led to a fair agreement," said Rochon.

"For the future, we call upon the minister and the NHC to recognize their inherent responsibilities at a much earlier stage to keep any other local housing organization negotiations from going off the rails."

The new collective agreement expires on June 30, 2025.