Last week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their first new applications report of September 2026, which covers all the applications they received between the 6th and the 13th.
One of those applications was for union certification.
Local 955 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, or IUOE, filed the application on 19 September 2026 for workers employed by NCSG Hauling & Rigging Ltd.
Based out of Acheson and also known as NCSG Crane & Heavy Haul Trans Tech Inc., the employer NCSG operates 8 branches in Alberta, BC, and Saskatchewan. Its workers provided crane and heavy haul services, especially in the energy sector.
One of those locations is in Bonnyville.
IUOE 955 is trying to unionize these workers, but it is a bit complex at the moment, since the workers are currently with Christian Labour Association of Canada.
In 2017, two York University researchers published a paper on CLAC, which was founded in 1952 by Dutch immigrants with strong links to European Christian labour. The article discusses how CLAC has been kicked out of central labour bodies, such as the International Trade Union Confederation, because of their use of “employer accommodationist strategies that undermine other unions”.
In fact, back in 2023, Building Trades of Alberta, which represents over 60,000 unionized construction workers in the private sector, called out CLAC and other so-called company unions for underming private sector bargaining among trades unions.
In 2018, CLAC teamed up with the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, an employer lobby group, and an open shop industry association to sue the BC government for favouring building trades unions in public infrastructure projects.
You cannot get more pro-employer than that. No wonder some of these workers want to switch unions.
In Alberta, workers must demonstrate support from at least 40% of their fellow workers to unionize a bargaining unit. In this case, that would be 10 workers.
The ALRB has scheduled a hearing for next Thursday (23rd) regarding this application, during which time, representatives of the employer can present any arguments, if they have any, as to why they think these workers should not unionize with IUOE 955.
Listed in the new applications report as an employer representative was Taylor Bye, a human resources business partner for Barnhart Canada, which bought NCSG in 2024.
Although CLAC represents workers in Bonnyville, the application that IUOE 955 filed was for all workers working in or out of Northern Division Branch locations except those office and clerical positions.
IUOE 955 also filed a similar application for just “specialty crane rental” workers in the same locations. Same employer, and ssame 23 workers.
Should the labour board approve the application, they will hold a certification vote, and those 23 workers will be able to democratically choose whether to unionize with IUOE 955.
Assuming the 10 workers I mentioned earlier who has shown initial support follow through and vote in favour, they would need to convince just 2 more of their fellow workers to join them in order to win the unionization drive.
If a majority of workers vote to switch unions and the ALRB certifies the new bargaining unit, one of their first orders of business will be to elect a bargaining team to begin negotiating a new collective agreement.
The agreement they ratified under CLAC in 2019 expired in October 2021.
This is not the first time CLAC workers will have left for IUOE 955. Last year, hundreds of workers employed by OEM Remanufacturing Company voted to join IUOE 955, the largest exodus from CLAC in the organization’s history.
Because the ALRB does not archive their new application reports, I have included a copy of this week’s report below for your convenience.
