Yukon University pulls out of its role in upcoming Arctic Winter Games
Yukon University says it won’t be part of the upcoming Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse — just over a month before the event is set to take place.
In a news release Monday afternoon, the university said that includes the cancellation of the university’s food services contract, the venue and space agreements for the games’ operations centre, mission offices and transportation hub.
The university said last month that contract negotiations with its unionized employees had been ongoing for more than a year with no agreement reached.
The Yukon Employees Union, which represents more than 400 university workers, also said last month that members had voted in favour of a strike mandate and that job action could begin as early as March 2.
The university said “with no immediate clarity or resolution” and with thousands of athletes set to arrive in Whitehorse in just over a month, the host society has had to “activate contingency plans” to move services off the campus.
“In recognizing the impact that a potential labour disruption may have on the success of the games should the university have remained a main hub, we had no option but to withdraw our agreement with the AWG [Arctic Winter Games] Host Society,” Shelagh Rowles, the university’s interim president, said in the release.
Tracey Bilsky, president of the AWG Host Society, said in a statement on Monday that organizers would give details on their contingency plans “in the coming days.”
The Arctic Winter Games are set to kick off March 8 in Whitehorse.
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