Hearing on picketing rules for Yellowknife city workers morphs into private mediation
The hearing was scheduled after the city won an injunction last week
A hearing scheduled for Tuesday to address picketing procedures for striking city of Yellowknife employees morphed into a mediation session.
The hearing was the result of the city of Yellowknife winning an injunction last week. It ordered that strikers only delay vehicles coming and going to city facilities for a maximum of 10 minutes. It is also imposed a limit of six picketers to each city entrance at a time, a qualification that was later removed.
In court documents the city alleged that striking workers had delayed commercial vehicles entering the dump for up to an hour, delayed vehicles entering or leaving the construction site of the new aquatic centre by up to 15 minutes each way, and parked their vehicles at the building site so that only one vehicle can enter or exit at a time.
Justice Andrew Mahar granted last week's injunction for 10 days. He later amended the original injunction which limited the number of people who could be on a picket line.
Lawyers for the city and the union were supposed address the injunction a hearing on Tuesday in N.W.T. Supreme Court. But the city's lawyer, Chris Buchanan, said they were not in the position to have a full hearing. He said the city was open to discussing a picketing protocol in the meantime.
Court adjourned so the lawyers could discuss.
When court reconvened later in the day, the public was told the lawyers would be entering mediation, which would be closed to the public.
It's unclear what the picketing protocol will be and when, or if, another public hearing will be scheduled.
CBC News reached out to the city and the union for more information, but did not hear back immediately.
Workers set up picket lines Feb. 8 after their union and the city failed to reach a new collective agreement. Wages are central to the dispute.
The current agreement expired a year ago.
The city is offering workers a two per cent increase retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022 and another two per cent increase retroactive to Jan. 1, 2023. An internal union memo indicates that workers are looking for a five per cent increase for 2022 and a three per cent increase this year.