Balwin Villa and Grand Manor workers in Alberta vote to join the union, UFCW 401

Edmonton – September 27, 2013 – Alberta’s largest private-sector Local Union, UFCW 401, is welcoming home care workers in Edmonton to Canada’s leading union, after employees at two facilities – Balwin Villa and Grand Manor – recently voted to improve their living standards by joining the UFCW.

A secret ballot vote on joining UFCW 401 was conducted by the Alberta Labour Relations Board with scrutineers present from both the company and the union. Workers from Balwin Villa and Grand Manor turned out in numbers higher than expected to improve their working conditions.

Unfortunately, in the week prior to the vote the employer attempted to create confusion about when and where voting would take place. However, the union’s organizing team persisted in ensuring that the workers had all of the information they needed in order to participate in the vote. In fact, these issues actually assisted with uniting the workplace and resulted in a stronger overall vote.

The members voted in favour of joining Local 401 by 91% at both locations, which have approximately 180 employees combined.

Some reasons members expressed for joining the union included: lack of overtime, inability to achieve full-time status, and confusion about how to qualify for raises. All of these issues will be brought up in the near future as negotiations commence between the team selected by the new members and the employer. The union will be preparing negotiating classes for those new members who are interested in being involved with the next step of the negotiating process.

To find out more about UFCW Canada Local 401 and their outstanding work, please visit www.gounion.ca.