Last month, Teamsters Canada posted an update regarding their efforts to help FedEx workers unionize in Fort McMurray.
The union had been collaborating with the workers in this effort since last year, and on 1 May 2026, the Canada Industrial Relations Board certified their Local 362 as the official bargaining agent of the workers.
When Local 362 applied for union certification last year, they specified that they wanted a bargaining unit of “all employees employed by Federal Express Canada Corporation in Fort McMurray, Alberta, excluding office and clerical”.
That would have been about 50 workers.
FedEx was not happy about this and tried several tactics to prevent the unionization from being successful.
First, they argued that supervisors should be included in the bargaining unit, claiming that “they are akin to lead hands in the work that they perform”.
However, supervisors typically are more supportive of the employer than the workers are, so it would not be a stretch to assume that they actually wanted supervisors included as it would reduce the percentage of voters who were in favour of unionization.
Luckily, the CIRB found “insufficient information on file regarding the appropriateness of including supervisors in the bargaining unit”.
Second, they tried to exclude temporary foreign workers, which make up roughly 60% of the bargaining unit that Local 362 proposed. They also wanted to exclude casual drivers. They alleged that both groups of workers “lack a community of interest with regular employees in the proposed bargaining unit”.
What a load of crap. Their community of interest is that all of them are members of the working class: none of them owns the means of production. As they are all drivers, they would all benefit from collectively bargaining as drivers.
Third, they tried to get clerical and office workers included in the bargaining unit “because of the interchangeable and interdependent nature of the roles at the Fort McMurray Station and that a broader-based bargaining unit is preferable”.
However, in last month’s decision, the CIRB “determined the unit described hereunder to be appropriate for collective bargaining”, regardless of whether the bargaining unit includes clerical and support workers or even the supervisors.
As a result, they certified Local 362 as the bargaining agent for these workers, and the two parties can determine later whether the other positions will be included.
It is fitting that the CIRB issued their ruling on 1 May, which is International Workers’ Day.
“FedEx tried to divide these workers along the lines of where they were born. Today, they stand together as Teamsters, and they will sit together at the bargaining table,” said François Laporte, president of Teamsters Canada. “This is a May Day victory in every sense of the word. Congratulations to everyone who took part in the organizing drive.”
“Temporary workers often face greater vulnerability in the workplace, due to language barriers or limited awareness of labour rights”, last month’s update added. “Some may hold closed permits tied to a single employer, meaning their right to stay in Canada depends on keeping their job. That precarity increases the risk of abuse and the need for union representation.”
Teamsters Canada outlined in their update the pay and benefit discrepancies between FedEx workers and unionized workers at UPS and Purolator, which were some of the motivation behind the unionization drive.
For example, they claimed that prior to unionization, drivers at FedEx Express were earning approximately $3 less per hour than drivers at UPS and Purolator.
As well, FedEx requires their drivers to contribute 3% of their wages to their pensions, yet UPS and Purolator fully fund their workers’ pensions.
Finally, Purolator workers in Fort McMurray can receive up to $1,500 a month in a living allowance to help offset the higher standard of living up north. FedEx workers get nothing like that.
“FedEx doesn’t pay these workers what they’re worth. FedEx doesn’t give them what every other courier in this town gets,” added Bernie Haggarty, the secretary-treasurer of Local 362. “And then FedEx had the nerve to argue over half of them shouldn’t be allowed in a union. Well, now they’re in a union, and we’re coming for the rest of it.”
The next step for these workers will be to determine whether to bring in the clerical and office workers and supervisors and then vote in a bargaining committee to begin negotiating their first collective agreement.
