Earlier this week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their latest new applications report for June 2025. In it was an application for the board to issue a cease and desist order
The Civic Service Union 52 filed the application on 16 June 2025, claiming that the Edmonton Public Library, which employs 700 of its members, has violated the Labour Relations Code during collective bargaining.
The library workers have been without a new contract since their last one expired at the end of last year. Even then, that contract wasn’t settled until April of last year, just 9 months before it expired and nearly 3.5 years since the previous one expired.
The workers’ bargaining team (which includes a buyer and two library assistants employed by the library, as well as two union reps) notified the library board in October that they wanted to start bargaining.
Unfortunately, the employer proposed the date of 19 December for the first meeting, dashing all hopes of negotiating a tentative agreement before this one expired 9 days later.
To help expedite the bargaining process, the bargaining committee requested in October disclosure of information, which could then inform their proposals. The library board rejected that request, saying that they would instead provide information as the need arose during bargaining.
This, of course, would also drag out the bargaining process.
Well, it didn’t take long for the Edmonton Public Library’s bargaining team to become confrontational. They didn’t like the fact that the workers’ bargaining team were wearing union-affiliated lanyards and buttons during the first bargaining sessions and asked team members to remove them.
Local 52 was confident that these actions violated, at the very least, case law and that they had the right to indicate support for their union. So, they filed a unfair labour practice report with the ALRB the following day.
Things escalated at the third bargaining meeting, which occurred on 18 March 2025, when the library team claimed that the union had eroded their trust because they pushed back against library management banning the display of Pride symbols in their libraries and forced CSU 52 workers to take down any such symbols.
Negotiations continued over the next several bargaining sessions, but still do not have a new contract.
According to this week’s new applications report, the bargaining that did occur since 18 March have not been “meaningful discussions”.
In addition, the Edmonton Public Library has refused to disclose relevant and material documents and won’r respond in a timely manner to information request from the union.
As such, CSU 52 has told the ALRB that the library’s actions—or lack thereof—have “hindered the conclusion of a collective agreement”.
They also claim that employer is engaging in tactics to erode worker trust in the union and minimize worker support of the union.
The ALRB has not yet published a date for the hearing on this matter.
Because the ALRB doesn’t archive their new applications reports, I’ve included a copy of this week’s report below for your convenience.
