Alberta’s Union for Warehouse Workers and Manufacturing Workers.
Warehousing and manufacturing employees are the backbone of Alberta’s economy. You work long shifts and perform repetitive and often risky labour to keep essential products going out the door. From meeting production quotas and pick rates to operating heavy machinery and navigating physically demanding environments, your work keeps factories running, shelves stocked, and businesses moving forward.
How Starting a Manufacturing Union or Warehousing Union Can Help
When you unionize, your work (and your life) gets better. Higher wages, safer workloads, stronger benefits, and predictable time off become rights you can count on, not privileges you hope for. Just as importantly, a union gives you a voice when new technologies, automation, or AI systems are introduced, helping ensure changes are implemented fairly, safely, and without leaving workers behind.
Discover more about how Teamsters can help on our labour union benefits page.
Teamsters: A Proven Partner For Manufacturing and Warehouse Workers
The Teamsters Union represents thousands of warehouse and manufacturing workers across North America, including members represented by Local 987 in multiple facilities across Alberta. If you’re working as a warehouse or manufacturing worker, reach out to us and discover why Teamsters 987 is the best union for you.
A Supply Chain Union For Your Entire Team
From manufacturing to warehousing to transportation, the vital task of keeping Alberta’s supply chains moving and our industries producing falls on many shoulders. Teamsters 987 is a union that represents all non-management warehouse and manufacturing workers on your team, including both full-time and part-time staff.
Starting a Union is Easy
The biggest step when starting a union is realizing that you deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness. Once you find a determined leader who is committed to the cause, the process is quite straightforward and Teamsters 987 is there to support you every step of the way. To discover the 8 Simple Steps visit: How To Start A Union.
Be Discrete. Be Aware. Be Wise.
Efforts to start a union will be resisted by management. An employer may attempt to threaten you, but fortunately, you are legally protected against intimidation or dismissal. Your Teamsters 987 organizer can provide valuable advice to help you get the support of your coworkers while minimizing any risk.
Teamsters 987 represents workers across the province of Alberta.
I’ve been a Teamsters 987 member since 2015. My job in a distribution warehouse is based on productivity, meaning that I have quotas and deadlines to meet throughout my shift. Teamsters 987 has laid down the foundation that ensures I’ll be successful and that I’ll do a great job at the end of the day. I’m proud to be a Teamsters member!
SAM, WAREHOUSE UNION MEMBER
Be Cautious. Be Smart. Be Discreet.
Your employer will try to oppose any attempt to start a union in their workplace. That is why it is important to be very quiet about your efforts and to only share your plans with coworkers who share your views and who you can trust to be hush-hush. The good news is that you are legally protected against intimidation or dismissal. Your Teamsters 987 will help you reduce the risk.LEARN HOW STARTING A
UNION CAN TRANSFORM
YOUR WORKPLACE
Reach out to a Teamsters 987 Organizer.
It’s 100% confidential.
FAQS
Yes. Unions negotiate enforceable health and safety standards, including access to proper PPE, training, and safety equipment. If safety rules are not followed, your union can step in to address the issue and hold the employer accountable.
Teamsters 987 represents all non-management employees, including full-time, part-time, and shift-based workers within a facility. This ensures that everyone doing the work has a collective voice, no matter their role or schedule.
Yes. Union contracts commonly include language around shift scheduling, overtime distribution, staffing levels, and rest periods. This gives workers a formal voice in decisions that directly affect fatigue, work-life balance, and safety.
We negotiate for predictable schedules and "minimum rest" periods between shifts so you can maintain a life outside of the warehouse.
Unions provide advocates to ensure you receive your full WCB benefits and that the company provides proper "light duty" or accommodations during your recovery.
While companies can still track performance, a union contract (CBA) ensures that tracking is fair, transparent, and that workers have a process to dispute errors in the data.
Yes. Unions can negotiate "reasonable pace" clauses that prevent management from arbitrarily increasing speed or "pick rates" to unsafe levels, ensuring you aren't disciplined for prioritizing safety over speed.
While technology changes, a union contract can include "Successorship" and "Technological Change" clauses. These require the company to provide advance notice of automation and offer retraining for current staff to operate the new systems.
Unions negotiate for severance packages, transfer rights to the new location, and "first-hire" status, ensuring that long-term employees aren't just left behind.
Increasingly, employers are attempting to hire non-unionized contract employees to do work, often for less money than unionized workers. As a result, outsourcing is becoming a central negotiation point in collective bargaining agreements, as unions try to prevent this practice.
A shop steward is an elected worker who represents the workers on union matters. The shop steward plays a crucial role in the labor union structure. Their primary duties and responsibilities typically include:
-Attending/ Organizing meetings and training sessions
-Representation to communicate/ raise concerns with management and the union
-Bringing forward grievances from individual workers based on the terms of the collective bargaining agreement
-Sharing information with coworkers (contract/ negotiation updates, policy changes, etc.)
-Coordinating training/ information sessions
-Enforcing the terms of the collective agreement
To form a union, a majority of non-management employees must support unionization. In Alberta, this typically means that more than 50% of workers who vote must vote in favour during a confidential vote.
The timeline can vary depending on the size of the workplace and employer response, but many union drives take a few weeks to a few months from initial organizing to certification. Teamsters 987 guides workers through each step to help keep the process efficient and protected.
There is no minimum size requirements to form a union. Teamster 987 can represent workers in small shops, large warehouses, and multi-shift manufacturing facilities. What matters most is that workers share common working conditions and a desire to organize.
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