Last month, I wrote a story about how Local 987 of the Teamsters were trying to unionize over 100 workers employed by Carmacks Maintenance Services Ltd.
Based out of Calgary, Carmacks specializes in construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure, including bridges, highways, and municipal roadways.
The Alberta Labour Relations Board held a hearing on 2 December 2024 regarding their application, but they still haven’t approved the application or held a certification vote.
Part of the reason for the delay is that only a week after Local 987 filed the application, Carmack tried to delay the process by claiming the union was trying to organize the workers on their premises and during working hours, which violates the Alberta Labour Relations Code.
They also accuse the Teamster of using coercion, intimidation, or undue influence to convince workers to unionize; although the ALRB’s summary provided no details on what the coercion or intimidation looked like.
Meanwhile, in this week’s new applications report from the ALRB, the Teamsters have filed their own application alleging unionbusting from Carmack.
Okay, well, technically, they didn’t use that word specifically.
What they did claims was that Carmack has been posting anti-union propaganda around the workplace, or at the very least, allowing such propaganda to be posted.
The application didn’t specify what was in the propaganda.
The Teamsters allege that these actions constitue “employer union involvement”, “employer interference”, and “illegal employer intimidation”, which all violate the Albert Labour Relations Code.
Looks like these workers have a fight on their hands. If a certification vote is ever held, over 50 workers would need to vote in favour of unionizing. But if Carmack has its way, that may not happen.
Because the ALRB doesn’t archive their new application reports, I’ve included a copy of this week’s report below.
