Calgary long-term care nurses file to unionize

Last month, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published the final new applications report for the final week of April, which included applications that had been filed between the 15th and the 26th.

Included in the report was an application from the United Nurses of Alberta for a union certification vote. UNA filed the application on 18 April on behalf of workers employed by Extendicare.

Based out of Ontario, Extendicare manages over 120 aging-in-place facilities across Canada.

According to the application, UNA is filing to represent about 14 workers providing either direct nursing care or nursing instruction at the company’s 112-space Hillcrest facility, located in the northwest Calgary community of Hillhurst.

UNA has already unionized workers at several of the company’s Alberta locations, including Athabasca, Calgary, Edmonton, Fort Macleod, Leduc, Mayerthorpe, Red Deer, Viking, and Vulcan..

The collective agreement with the Calgary Cedars Villa location expired in 2019, and the contract for all the other UNA locations expired in 2021.

If the application is approved, the ALRB will hold a certification vote, and the workers will have a chance to choose whether to join the unions.

Because the ALRB doesn’t archive their new application reports, I’ve included this report below.

Update (21 May 2024): According to a UNA media release published on 13 May 2024, a majority of these workers voted in favour of unionizing.