City of Yellowknife and unions reach tentative agreement

The City of Yellowknife and unions representing municipal workers have reached a tentative deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.

If the agreement is now ratified by unionized city workers and approved by Yellowknife’s city council, it will come into effect for the period January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.

The details of the agreement have not been made public.

“After six days of negotiations within the last week, the City of Yellowknife and PSAC Local X0345, represented by the Union of Northern Workers, have reached a tentative agreement to end the current strike/lockout,” the City of Yellowknife stated late on Sunday evening.

“The terms of the agreement cannot yet be shared, and a media blackout will continue until union members ratify the agreement. The city will provide further information as soon as possible.”

The CBC first reported the tentative agreement, made public only through a document on the City of Yellowknife’s website that calls a special meeting of council at 5pm on Tuesday to authorize the agreement.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada and Union of Northern Workers have yet to make a statement.

If the agreement is confirmed, a strike and lockout that began on February 8 will end.

The last public offer from the city would have given two-percent annual salary increases to workers, backdated to January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2023, with an extra lump-sum payment to account for the effect of recent inflation.

The unions’ most recent public proposal sought annual 3.75-percent increases plus other conditions, having turned down an offer from the city to enter binding arbitration.