Nearly five thousand Unifor members working at six different crown corporations and one crown agency went on strike as of midnight, as they try to negotiate a better wage increase for their members, this despite reported pressure from the provincial government to issue wage freezes.

Unifor National President Jerry Dias says MLA wages have gone up between 25 and 30 percent since 2006.

He says, for their members , in the last 12 years, wages have increased 11 per cent. He says that doesn’t even keep up with inflation.

Unifor members working for the crowns get paid through their profits according to Dias, not through tax dollars.

Dias says members want a raise themselves after Scott Moe and his MLA’s received a 2.3 percent bump. The Saskatchewan Premier, when asked about that yesterday, says the government is offering a 5 per cent increase over 5 years.

Unifor says it’s actually zero per cent for the first 2 years, then 1 per cent in the 3rd, and 2 per cent in the 4th and 5th years. And Scott Moe points out MLAs have actually had a 3.9 per cent increase over the last 5 years.

Workers had been taking part in a work-to-rule campaign since Monday.