Just because there’s a strike, doesn’t mean you can park anywhere

Been tossing the car into any old space in downtown Yellowknife for hours at a time these past two days? You’re not the only one.

But be warned: the city’s municipal enforcement officers have their own, separate collective agreement and they aren’t on strike, nor locked out. In theory, nothing for them has changed.

Granted, their attention might be elsewhere with many municipal workers engaged in a work stoppage and picket lines springing up. There have been no reports of sudden rashes of parking tickets since the strike and lockout began on Wednesday. (Bylaw may have decided now is not the time.)

Even so, the sheer number of vehicles suddenly parked downtown suggests some people may have assumed municipal enforcement also walked off the job.

“Municipal enforcement officers are unionized under a separate collective agreement between the city and the PSAC,” confirmed city spokesperson Sarah Sibley by email, adding that firefighters similarly have a separate bargaining unit.

“It’s business as usual for these folks, no changes,” Sibley added.

In Yellowknife’s downtown, that means the usual rules still apply. Parker beware.