Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act, be read for the second time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Public Service Act by taking out provisions that require disagreements that arise during negotiation of a collective agreement to be referred to an arbitrator and substituting provisions that allow employees who are members of a bargaining unit to strike, and the Minister to change the terms and conditions of employment where there is no longer a collective agreement in effect. As a consequence, the bill provides that the renewal provisions in the current collective agreement no longer have any effect.
The bill also amends the act to establish an offence for unlawfully striking or declaring a strike; it sets out a process for the making of agreements to identify what are essential services and which employees in the bargaining unit are required to work during a strike to provide an essential service or to respond to an emergency; it establishes bargaining units and clarifies which positions are excluded from the collective agreement.
The bill also consequentially amends the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association Act and the Union of Northern Workers Act.