Regency Employees Reject SEIU, Choose CLAC

DATE: January 06, 2011

Mississauga, ON—Employees of Regency Retirement Residence in Mississauga voted unanimously in favour of ending their relationship with SEIU and joining CLAC. “We knew there were concerns about a lack of representation and poor service from SEIU,” says Jonathan Schat, CLAC Ontario representative. “But we did not anticipate winning the vote in such a decisive manner.”

The overwhelming numbers in favour of CLAC come even though SEIU had just won a respectable arbitration award for renewal of the collective agreement at the home. But even a decent wage increase cannot compensate for years of neglect.

“The fundamentals of union representation are critically important to workers,” says Schat.  “When employees have a question, they want their union to answer the phone. When they have a problem, they want their union to show up and provide real solutions.”

The unanimous rejection of SEIU in the December 23rd vote suggests that the fundamentals of union representation were lacking at the Regency. Another key factor can be attributed to a backlash to the extreme pressure tactics employed by SEIU during the campaign. Regency employees reported being approached at work and harassed by numerous phone calls and unwelcome visits to their homes by SEIU representatives.

“We were told that we would lose our arbitration award along with our collective agreement,” says Agnes Sitko, an employee of the dietary department of the home. “They said we would be without union representation if we changed unions.”

The Ontario Labour Relations Act protects employees’ right to change unions without fear or coercion. 

“I resent being bullied and lied to about my right to choose,” says Sitko. “We suffered with poor service for the five years that SEIU represented us at the Regency. But when we decided to change unions, we couldn’t turn around without tripping over them.”