Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili says the labour dispute with crown corporations is an unfair situation for workers who are wanting a fair deal.

He believes the Sask Party is trying to send a message to public sector workers that they are going to be sticking with zeros for other contracts.

“It really doesn’t make sense, these are profitable crown corporations. They pull millions of dollars out of these companies, to be going back and saying to the workers, who are the ones who’ve done the work, that have earned that money, uh, that you’re not worth, that you’re worth zero, is really an awful message to be sending.”

Meili says Premier Scott Moe has “forced this strike to happen”.

He says the premier is trying to change the channel by distracting the public and dividing workers against the rest of the population.

Saskatchewan Crown Corporation CEO’s say essential services will not be impacted while Unifor members conduct job action across the province.

Mike Marsh, President and CEO of SaskPower says the call centre will see the greatest impact. He says they have redeployed management personnel to the call centre to handle calls. However, he says they do expect there will be some delays in getting responses. Marsh says they are also encouraging people to use online services as much as possible to help reduce delays.

SaskTel President and CEO Doug Burnett says a business continuity plan has been put in place. He says they will, of course, continue to provide essential services, 911, police, fire, hospital and in addition will continue to respond to emergencies and repairs. Burnett says the SaskTel store will be closed but adds their dealer network will be able to handle the extra load. (CKRM)