Last week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their latest new applications report for March 2024. In it was an application for union certification.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees filed the application on 3 March 2024 on behalf of 28 workers employed by Bethany Care Society.
These workers will include health care aides, licensed practical nurses, caretaking, kitchen workers, janitorial workers, and so on.
The applications says that the union hopes the bargaining unit will apply to “all employees” at the company’s Aspen Ridge Lodge facility in Didsbury, which they claim comes to 28.
AUPE has already unionized Bethany Care Society workplaces in Airdrie, Calgary, Cochrane, Didsbury, Olds, Red Deer, Sundre, and Sylvan Lake.
Two of those—Mount View Lodge in Calgary and Sundre Seniors’ Supportive Living—were unionized only in 2022.
For a workplace to be considered as a bargaining unit, those filing the application must demonstrate that 40% of the workers are interested in unionizing.
In this case, that would amount to 12 workers. Should the ALRB approve the application as hold a certification vote, the union would need to get just 3 more workers on board—assuming those original 12 vote in favour—to get a simple majority.
Because the ALRB doesn’t archive their new application reports, I’d included a copy of this week’s report below.
