CALGARY – Support workers at Calgary Laboratory Services voted overwhelmingly today in a run-off election to be represented by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

"This vote result shows that employees of Calgary Lab Services recognize that they’re better off in one union," said AUPE President Dan MacLennan. "AUPE clearly remains the union of choice for health care workers in Alberta.

"From the point of view of bargaining strong collective agreements, it obviously made sense to the CLS employees to be part of one union," MacLennan said.

The approximately 40 CLS employees had been part of an unusual "joint certificate" encompassing employees at several Calgary Lab Services locations, said AUPE Union Representative Karen Thibault. About two thirds were AUPE members and one third were members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, but they were covered by the same collective agreement.

AUPE applied for the Alberta Labour Relations Board supervised vote, Thibault said, because the employees desired the better sense of bargaining strength that comes from being part of one union.

AUPE was also concerned because joint bargaining involving the two unions had not been working effectively in recent rounds of negotiations.

Calgary Laboratory Services was created by a policy of the Calgary Health Region in 1996 to provide all diagnostic services for people in Calgary and surrounding communities.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cell phone)
Karen Thibault, Union Representative, AUPE, 403-531-8605 or 403-816-7852 (cell phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cell phone)

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