City council declined to meet with executives from the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) North, who invited them to discuss concerns amongst unionized city workers privately.

The invitation was made to councillors and Mayor Rebecca Alty on Feb. 15 and came from from Gayla Thunstrom, UNW president; Lorraine Rousseau, PSAC North regional executive vice president; and Chris Aylward, PSAC national president.

SA国际影视传媒淲e are appealing to you to show City of Yellowknife employees, who are also residents and taxpayers, that you (the City) value and respect them and are willing to hear what they have to say,SA国际影视传媒� the three union executives stated in the invite.

An email written as a response to their request was made by Alty on behalf of council the following day declining the invite.

SA国际影视传媒淎t this time, it would not be appropriate or legal for council to meet with the union, as negotiations are ongoing,SA国际影视传媒� she stated.

She explained that it is illegal for council to hold meetings in private when decisions are before the council.

SA国际影视传媒淔or example, if a developer has a housing application that needs council approval, council would not meet with that developer to discuss it in private,SA国际影视传媒� she stated. SA国际影视传媒淭he same goes in this situation SA国际影视传媒� this is a matter before council and we canSA国际影视传媒檛 be lobbied behind closed doors.SA国际影视传媒�

She stated that council is well aware of the issues that employees and residents are facing.

SA国际影视传媒淵ellowknife is a tight-knit and close community, and we all live here,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淓very one of us on Council has family or friends who are employees of the City, and who are being impacted by the current collective bargaining process in one way or another.SA国际影视传媒�

She also stated that she believes conversations would be most meaningful at the bargaining table and welcomed the opportunity to meet for a general discussion after bargaining concludes.

Thunstrom told Yellowknifer that it is not unprecedented for elected representatives to meet in the way they requested.

SA国际影视传媒淔or example, during bargaining with the GNWT, union executives often meet openly with MLAs to discuss issues and concerns,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Thunstrom said that she encourages the mayor and council to visit unionized city workers on the picket lines to hear the workerSA国际影视传媒檚 concerns directly.

Yellowknifer reached out to the mayor and council for comment but did not get a response before press deadline.

The invitation from the UNW to council is publicly available on their and a copy of the response from the mayor was given to Yellowknifer from the city.