Last week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their first new applications report of 2025. In it was an application accusing an employer of unionbusting.
Okay, the summary did not actually use unionbusting, but I think it stills counts.
Local 805 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, Shopmen—also known as the Ironworkers—submitted the application on 28 July 2025.
In it, they accused the employer, Alberta Precast, of firing someone for supporting unionization. Local 805 has been conducting a unionization drive at this workplace, and this worker apparently had been playing a key role in that drive.
Based out of Spruce Grove, Alberta Precast specializes in designing, engineering, fabricating, and constructing precast concrete structures.
According to the summary that the ALRB provided in their report, Alberta Precast terminated employment of one of their workers, Teryn Lail, because that worker “indicated support for a trade union”, was “organizing”, and was “encouraging his co-workers to sign union support cards”.
The application summary also indicates that the union claims this action violates section 149 of Alberta’s Labour Relations Code, particularly 149.1.1.a.i, 149.1.a.ii, and 149.1.a.vii
No employer or employers’ organization and no person acting on behalf of an employer or employers’ organization shall refuse to employ or to continue to employ any person or discriminate against any person in regard to employment or any term or condition of employment because the person is a member of a trade union or an applicant for membership in a trade union, has indicated in writing the person’s selection of a trade union to be the bargaining agent on the person’s behalf, [or] . . . has participated in any strike that is permitted by this Act
as well as 149.1.c
No employer or employers’ organization and no person acting on behalf of an employer or employers’ organization shall seek by intimidation, dismissal, threat of dismissal or any other kind of threat, by the imposition of a pecuniary or other penalty or by any other means, to compel an employee to refrain from becoming or to cease to be a member, officer or representative of a trade union.
I reached out to Lail for a comment on the issue. He explained to me that he had connected with the Ironworkers last month regarding unionization. After meeting with an organizer, he went to work the next day and talked to 7 of his coworkers, several of which were interested in unionizing and would sign a union card.
By the end of the day, however, his supervisor called him into the office and terminated his employment. According to Lail, the supervisor claimed he was let go because he had plans to go back to school. Lail claims that when he phoned the supervisor later to confirm the reason, the supervisor told him that since he was still in his probationary period, he was laid off “without cause”.
Lail was interested in unionizing his workplace so the workers there “can have better pay and working conditions”. He took what happened pretty hard.
“It upset me that the company would fire me to try and suppress the union drive,” he said. “I will miss my co-workers. They’re a great group of guys, and I liked working with them.”
The ALRB has not yet announced a hearing for this application.
Because the ALRB does not archive their new application reports, I have included a copy of last week’s report below.
