Earlier this week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their first new applications report for September 2026. It covers all applications received between the 6th and the 13th.
One of the applications is for unit determination.
The United Utility Workers’ Association of Canada filed the application on 9 September 2026.
This union has represented about workers employed by FortisAlberta Inc since 2005, including office workers and trades workers.
These workers now number about 1,000; however, there has been some confusion regarding whether engineers-in-training are included in this bargaining unit.
When these workers received their union certification in February 2005, the bargaining unit was supposed to be for “all employees”, so on the surface, engineers-in-training should be counted.
I imagine FortisAlberta may try to argue that since these workers are in training, they do not count as employees in the same way.
The current collective agreement covering FortisAlberta workers does include non-permanent workers, such as those in temporary and casual positions, as well as postsecondary students who are obtaining work experience of fufilling academic requirements.
That being said, the agreement excludes registered apprenticeship programme students.
Listed in ALRB’s report as an employer contact is Joni Stremel, a human resources officer who has been a director of people and culture at FortisAlberta since August 2025.
The ALRB has not published any hearing dates regarding this application.
Because the ALRB does not archive their new application reports, I have included a copy of this week’s report below for your convenience.
