More than 50 local SaskTel workers were locked out of the job this morning. 

Reports state that Unifor has made the decision to resume work-to-rule, yet, SaskTel released a statement late yesterday stating they will not be permitting their employees to return to work.

“Unifor has indicated to its members that returning to work on October 8, 2019, is a short-term measure and that they will only provide 24 hours’ notice before going on strike again. It takes the corporation up to 48 hours to mobilize the business back and forth to have the necessary processes, systems and accesses reinstated. This creates far too much uncertainty and the corporation needs to ensure we are able to maintain the integrity of our networks and serve our customers in a safe and secure manner.”

Lorne Hill, a network technician of over 20 years for SaskTel said the labour disruption is unfortunate. 

"We were ready to go back into the workplace today," said Hill. "We wanted to go back in and service the people that we service every day. We were told that wasn't going to happen." 

The SaskTel store on Main Street employees about 15 people, with several others working in network operations, construction, customer service installation and repair, and sales staff. 

"We also have employees that are locked out today in Assiniboia and Gravelbourg as well." 

While on strike, Unifor members are being paid $300 per week if 20 hours are spend on the picket line. 

Hill said the best-case scenario is for the union and the province to get back to the bargaining table so workers can return to work as quickly as possible. 

"It's unfortunate. We need to get back to the bargaining table and get an agreement, but it seems that SaskTel is in some ways got mandate given to them by the provincial government. We need to have our parties go back to the table with a different mandate and get an agreement."

We'll have more on this story as it unfolds.