Aramark employees in Labrador City, N.L. join union

Wage cuts, regressive company measures reasons to join: USW

Aramark employees in Labrador City, N.L. join union
The Aramark employees who joined the USW include about 60 cooks, cleaners, maintenance and front desk workers, says the union. Shutterstock

Labrador City, N.L. employees of Aramark, the U.S.-based food services and facilities provider have voted to join the United Steelworkers (USW) union on Oct. 4.

The workers are employed by Aramark Quebec, which has a contract with mining company IOC to provide services at a local fly-in camp and about 30 residences owned by IOC. The fly-in camp is used by IOC contractors and railway employees, while the residences house IOC executives and guests, says USW.

The Aramark employees who joined the USW include about 60 cooks, cleaners, maintenance and front desk workers, says the union.

After a majority of employees signed union cards in order to join the USW, an application to certify the union through an official vote was filed with the Newfoundland and Labrador labour relations board in March. However, the certification process was prolonged for months as Aramark attempted to have numerous employees excluded from union membership, says USW.

The labour relations board finally ordered a vote by employees this week, with a majority voting to join the USW, says the union.

Workers decided to join the USW after seeing significant wage cuts and other regressive measures imposed by Aramark after it secured the IOC contract to replace the previous service provider, says USW.

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