UPS/UFNC Security Guards vote UFCW Canada “Yes!”

Another group of service workers in the Alberta oil sands has added their voices to UFCW Canada Local 401 to bargain for better conditions and higher employment standards in their workplace and rapidly growing industry.

With a clear majority of 72%, the Security Guards from United Protection Services/United First Nations Corp. voted in favour of joining Local 401, a strong voice for workers in the oil sands region and throughout the province.

The organizing victory for the UPS/UFNC workers did not come easy.

For over six months, the UPS/UFNC workers – based at 19 different sites throughout the oil sands region – dedicated themselves to signing union petitions to prove to the Alberta Labour Relations Board that the workers were strongly in favour of benefiting from the representation of the province’s largest private-sector local union.

The workers also remained strong and solidified during the drawn out voting process that resulted in an overwhelming victory for the newest members of Local 401.  

“This is an incredible victory for Security Guards in Alberta,” says Local 401 Organizing Co-ordinator Chris O’Halloran, who worked closely with the UPS/UFNC workers throughout the successful campaign. “It is an exciting time for the workers at UPS/UFNC. Their voices will be heard through the process of negotiating a union contract with their employer for the betterment of their workplace.”