City of Yellowknife Bargaining Unit Members Send Strong Message to Employer
One look at Northern Media sites this afternoon tells you everything you need to know about the bargaining situation versus cost of living in the Yellowknife specifically, but also the NWT and Nunavut as a whole. The unionized employees at the City of Yellowknife voted overwhelmingly to strike in response to the city’s 2 percent per year offer in the face of 7 percent inflation.
The City’s SAO has been accused by the Union of Northern Workers and the Public Service Alliance of Canada, of interfering and coercing with cherry-picked information. The Union says they will be filing an Unfair Labour Practice Complaint. This, no doubt had the impact of building solidarity amongst the ranks of Unionized employees. They have sent the message they wont be coerced or bullied into taking a deal that isn’t fair.
At the end of the day the moral of the story is that the City of Yellowknife is trying to bully the Unionized employees into taking a concession. That concession is a wage increase well below inflation. In real wage terms when adjusted for inflation this is a pay cut. This is all while the Labour market continues to get tighter and the city of Yellowknife like many employers struggle to fill their vacant positions.
Support your hard working city employees and tell the City of Yellowknife to come back to the table with a fair deal. Stop the squeeze!
