Foothills Creamery workers file to unionize

Last week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their third new applications report for March 2026. In it was an application for union certfication.

Local 401 of United Food and Commercial Workers filed the application on 13 March 2026 on behalf of Calgary area workers employed by Foothills Creamery Ltd.

Based out of Calgary, Foothills Creamery hires workers to produce various dairy products, including butter, buttermilk, ice cream, and sorbet.

According to the application summary provided by ALRB, Local 401 is applying to represent over 30 workers employed by Foothills, but it would not include drivers or anyone working in office, clerical, or sales positions.

The ALRB has scheduled a hearing for this Friday (27th) regarding this application. Foothills Creamery will have a chance to put forward arguments, if they have any, as to why they think these workers should not be able to unionize with Local 401.

To apply for union certification in Alberta, applicants must demonstrate support from at least 40% of their fellow workers. In this case, that would be 14 workers.

Should the ALRB approve the application, they would hold a certification vote, during which the workers will be able to democratically choose whether to unionize.

Assuming those 14 workers follow through and vote in favour, they would need to convince just 3 more of their fellow workers to vote with them to win the vote.

If a majority of the workers vote in favour of unionization and the ALRB certifies their bargaining unit, one of their first tasks will be to form a bargaining committee to begin negotiating their first collective agreement.

Because the ALRB does not archive their new application reports, I have included a copy of last week’s report below for your convenience.