SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A week after walking away from the bargaining table, the City of Yellowknife has agreed to a date to resume negotiations with unionized workers Tuesday.

The Union of Northern Workers and the city will meet April 12 to 14.

On March 1, less than two weeks after negotiations began, Bob Long, city administrator, announced the city would be applying for a third-party mediator because "negotiations were going too slow," according to a press release from the Union of Northern Workers.

Wage proposals for 130 city workers hadn't yet been put on the table when talks were stopped. The union's bargaining team was prepared to give a full response to the city's proposal on March 1, but wasn't given the opportunity before the city walked away, according to the union's press release.

On March 4, following the first bargaining attempt, the union wrote a letter to the city saying it was ready to continue bargaining and provided a number of dates to do so.

According to the union, the city has dropped its application for a conciliation officer and has agreed to meet April 12 to 14.

The union signed its last three-year collective agreement on Feb. 13, 2008. That agreement included a salary increase of 3.5 per cent in 2008, four per cent in 2009 and 6.5 per cent in 2010.

The city's proposal, if accepted, would allow the contracting out of city jobs, according to the union press release.

When talks came to a standstill last week, Todd Parsons, president of the Union of Northern Workers, said union members deserve better.

"Our members have real concerns, which need to be heard and addressed. Parsons wasn't available to comment on the developments.

Long did not return calls by press time.

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