Yellowknife gymnastics club to close Saturday after union calls for job action at facility

The Yellowknife gymnastics club seemed to have escaped the general shutdown of services and clubs city wide following the start of a strike on Wednesday.

A not-for-profit organization operates the club out of a gym it owns. But those facilities are attached to the Yellowknife Multiplex, a city-run sports complex that is shut down during the strike. With its separate entrance, the gymnastics club continued to operate.

But now the club plans to shut down for the day Saturday. The club president said he'd seen an internal union memo directing striking workers to form a strike line near the club's location.

"We received a copy of a memo that went around from a member of the union asking for people to show up on Saturday to strike at the Multiplex with the specific intent to shut down our gymnastics club," said gymnastics club president Steve Thompson.

CBC has reviewed the memo.

It reads, in part: "Opportunity for more Strike PAY!!!! !We are going to try a picket at the Multiplex to see how affective it will be at shutting down the Gymnastics Events."

The memo appears to have been sent from a Public Service Alliance of Canada email address.

The memo goes on to say the picket line should start at 8 a.m.

"When we received that, we did not want to put our members in any risk or any peril," Thompson said. "So … in the interest of safety and to not show support for either side, we're going to shut it down."

Thompson said the shutdown comes at an unfortunate time. The club has been struggling financially since the pandemic lockdown, and if the club has to begin refunding programming money, it would be very difficult for the club.

"If this continues for too long it could lead to us having to close our doors," Thompson said.

Thompson says the gymnastics club owns its space, and has its own washrooms and entrance, so it doesn't need to use anything in the city-owned side of the facility.

Thompson said he's hopeful the contract dispute will be resolved soon, and he asked members to be patient.

"We're not taking sides in the situation," he said. "We work closely with both the city and its employees for a number of things we have to do as being attached to the Multiplex."

A PSAC regional co-ordinator responded to the CBC's request for comment by email.

"The union is going to be peacefully picketing at the street entrances to the Multiplex and Fieldhouse," said Daniel Kinsella. "Those picket lines will provide a respectful opportunity for city workers to interact with other Yellowknifers and informing them of the issues."

Kinsella says the union has reached out to gymnastics board members "to explain our desire to maintain a good relationship with the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club and all other Yellowknife sports and community organizations who are affected by this job action."

Kinsella did not specify when the union had reached out.

Many city of Yellowknife workers have been on strike since Wednesday morning. The union and administration are at an impasse on wages, but negotiations are expected to resume Monday.