Earlier this week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their first new applications report of August 2024. In it was a new application for union certification.
Local 1-207 of the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union—also known as United Steelworkers—filed the application on 6 August 2024.
USW is trying to unionize on behalf of 7 workers employed by the Faculty Association of the University of Calgary, which include an office clerk, an office manager, a business officer, three professional officers, and an associate executive director.
The Faculty Association of the University of Calgary advocates on behalf of U of C faculty through negotiating their collective agreement, disseminating information, processing labour grievances, promoting faculty interests, and representing them in U of C administrative and governance councils.
The 7 workers help the FAUC accomplish those purposes, but they currently have no collective way to negotiate their own contract even while they help faculty negotiate theirs.
The ALRB has scheduled a hearing for this application, during which time, the FAUC will have a chance to argue why they think the workers shouldn’t be able to unionize with USW. That hearing is set for 20 August.
Should the ALRB approve this certification application, they will then hold a certification vote, when all 7 workers will be able to democratically determine whether to unionize.
If the worker vote in favour of unionizing, then their next step will be to form a bargaining committee and begin negotiating their first collective agreement.
Because the ALRB doesn’t archive their new application reports, I’ve included a copy of this one below.
