YMCA accused of unionbusting

Earlier this week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their final new applications report of January 2026. In it was an application accusing an employer of unionbusting.

Okay, technically, the summary provided by ALRB in the report never used the term unionbusting, but read through what I share with you in this article then let me know if you think it counts.

On 20 January 2026, Local 2559 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees filed their application on behalf of workers employed by YMCA of Northern Alberta.

Based out of Edmonton, YMCA of Northern Alberta is a charity overseeing the operation of YMCA programmes and facilities across central and northern Alberta, including in Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, and Wood Buffalo.

They employ about 1,500 people, some of whom had been trying to run a unionization drive.

One of those people was Nelly Wati, whose LinkedIn profile said that she had been a resettlement support worker with YMCA of Northern Alberta since the summer of 2023.

According to ALRB’s summary in the report, sometime after Wati and others began organizing, YMCA of Northern Alberta terminated Wati’s employment.

Local 2559 claims that they did so specifically “because of her involvement in the union drive” and that the decision “was motivated by anti-union animus”. They also worry that the employer’s action was trying to “send a message to other employees that involvement in the Union drive could cost them their jobs, or lead to other forms of reprisal”.

This is the first application brought to the ALRB since Katherine O’Neill took over as president and chief executive officer at YMCA of Northern Alberta this past October.

Prior to that, O’Neill had served for over 5 years as CEO of YMCA Edmonton. That was preceded by a short stint as executive director of Alberta Together, a political action committee formed in June 2017. She took that position shortly after resigning as president of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta once Jason Kenney became party leader.

She also ran in the 2015 Alberta election as the PC candidate for the Edmonton–Meadowlark riding, but ended up losing to Jon Carson, the NDP candidate.

ALRB’s summary in the new applications report said that Local 2559 claims Wati’s termination violated several sections of Albert’s Labour Relations Code.

No employer or employers’ organization and no person acting on behalf of an employer or employers’ organization shall participate in or interfere with the representation of employees by a trade union.

Labour Relations Code, 148.1.a.ii

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 exercised any right under this Act

Labour Relations Code, 149.1.a.i, 149.1.a.ii, and 149.1.a.viii

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

Labour Relations Code, 149.1.c

I reached out to CUPE for a copy of the application they had sent to the ALRB. They sent me a copy that had redacted Wati’s name; although I remind the reader that her last name was included in ALRB’s new application report.

According to CUPE’s application, Wati had received annual performance reviews in February 2024 and February 2025, both of which resulted in a score of “meets expectations”, so terminating her employment did not seem to be a result of poor performance.

In fact, CUPE’s application to the ALRB reported that Wati has no record of discipline in her employee file.

Further to that, during the meeting earlier this month where she was dismissed, according to the application, the two people who called Wati to the meeting refused to provide a reason for the termination when asked, including not explicitly stating that it was because of her involvement in a campaign to unionize her fellow workers.

The application claimed that sometime last year, Wati had reached out to CUPE regarding a unionization drive for all those working in the community services division of YMCA of Northern Alberta.

In late November 2025, about a month and a half prior to Wati’s termination, CUPE launched their unionization campaign. As part of that campaign, Wati approached several of her fellow workers about signing union cards to express initial support for unionization.

In Alberta, a potential bargaining unit must show support from at least 40% of the workers who would be part of that bargaining unit.

The union, in their application, has requested that the ALRB demand several remedies if they find their claims are founded:

• That YMCA of Northern Alberta violated the previously mentioned sections of the Labour Relations Code
• That they should stop violating those sections
• That they should post notified that they violated the code and what the rights of their workers are under the code
• That they should email a copy of that notice to all their workers
• That they reinstate Wati to her position
• That they allow CUPE to meet with all community services workers during working hours in mandatory meetings to inform them about their campaign
• Any other relief the board deems fit

Because the ALRB does not archive their new applications reports, I have included a copy of this week’s report below.