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Approximately 50 workers at FedEx Express in Fort McMurray have won union certification, joining Teamsters Local Union 362 after a lengthy legal battle. The Canada Industrial Relations Board issued its certification order on International Workers’ Day.
The Teamsters said the certification order allows the union to move quickly toward negotiating a first collective agreement.
Teamsters Canada President François Laporte characterized FedEx’s legal position as divisive, saying the company attempted to argue that “temporary workers,” including international students and temporary foreign workers, were not entitled to join a union alongside Canadians. The union said roughly 30 workers at the Fort McMurray facility hold temporary status, and that the certified bargaining unit includes them.
The union noted that temporary workers can face greater vulnerability in the workplace due to language barriers or limited awareness of labour rights. It also pointed to the potential precarity of closed work permits tied to a single employer, where a worker’s right to remain in Canada can depend on maintaining employment, increasing the perceived need for union representation.
Teamsters Canada and the local union cited several compensation differences between FedEx Express couriers and Teamster-unionized counterparts at UPS and Purolator:
Bernie Haggarty, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local Union 362, said FedEx had argued that “half of them shouldn’t be allowed in a union,” adding that workers are now “in a union” and that the union intends to organize further.
The union said the Fort McMurray site is the first FedEx Express location to successfully unionize in Canada.
Teamsters Canada said it represents close to 130,000 workers across industries from coast to coast to coast.
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