An appeal will be heard Monday by the Alberta Labor Relations Board in a dispute between Starbucks and Calgary employees attempting to unionize.
A total of 17 employees voted by mail in January on whether to join the United Steelworkers (USW).
The company filed an appeal, however, questioning which of the Chinook Center food court location employees should be eligible to vote.
Those ballots, which were sent to the labor board on Wednesday, will remain sealed until a ruling is made at Monday’s hearing explained union spokesperson Brett Barden.
“It is deeply disappointing and concerning that Starbucks continues to undermine the right of their workers to join a union by filing yet another appeal to delay the results of the organizing efforts at the Chinook Center food court location,” said Pablo Guerra, USW organizer in to statement.
“We will continue to fight the ongoing attacks from Starbucks with the Alberta Labor Relations Board so these workers can have strong union representation because they deserve better.”
Chinook Center is the second Starbucks store to apply for certification in Canada. Employees at a Starbucks in Victoria, BC voted to join the United Steelworkers in 2020.
If successful, the Calgary Starbucks employees will also join the union’s District 3, which represents workers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.