the deal

OK so here are the rules and this is the plan. I told you this was the tedious part, but here we go... In Alberta, a tough place for unions the following must happen for unionization:

1. 40% of the employees* must sign a petition stating they want to vote on the possibility of uniting to negotiate the terms of their employment.
2. 50% of the employees* who do vote must vote in favour of a union

So to simplify first you must sign a petition, and if 40% sign then there is a vote to decide if the union will represent the employees in the collective bargaining process.

*an employee is some one who has worked thirty days before or thirty days after the petition is handed into the labour board.

So back at the Shaw a hundred workers keep the place functional and for larger functions up to another 150 employees can be brought in. By department the number break down as follows:

dishwashers and cleaners 30
kitchen staff 20
house keeping 12
maintenance 6
events and service 30
banquets 150
bartenders 20

SO my plan was to find a key person in each department and have them sign up their crews. I would take of dishwashers and cleaners, Philomena would handle the kitchen, Dawn would take care of the housekeeping, maintenance was easy, Charles was confident with E&S and Henry would take care of the bars.

that left banquets and due to their size i divided them up again...

sympathetic righteous white
east Indians
Italians
stoners
Chinese

the total number of employees was around 275, i went high to be safe, we needed 40%, Charles said 140.

The higher the better.

Government

So i was unclear and desperately wanting to win this game i needed to know the rules so i went to the government.

the union people have been a disappointment
they are like managers of any large corporation
more concerned with their perks and personal agendas
than actually creating

and though i asked often and loud for the pertinent rules
the answers were vague and contradictory

so skipping the messenger i went to the labour board to fins out the rules for this particular game. I phoned and made an appointment for 9 am, but on the day of the meeting i slept in due to too much drink the night before...

i showed up at 1 and though my tardiness was noted i was welcomed into the office of Lillian Helton with much hospitality...she had made copies of the act and walked me through the relevant sections.

by the end of the meeting i was well acquainted with:

appropriate bargaining units
eligible and ineligible employees
and all the significant numbers

I thanked her for her kindness and knowledge. i was surprised by her kindness and knowledge. I was surprised by her professionalism and objectivity...maybe the government is my friend..maybe not but after our meeting i was able to formulate a simple plan; now all i needed to do was bring the union onside and execute...

total number of eligible employees

Gabe and I set about our task
he gets a list of people
who are in events and services
and gives it to me in the tunnel

i take the kitchen employees
off a bulletin board and take a copy
of dish washing/ stewarding out of the office

dawn brings in banquets and housekeeping
maintenance is self explanatory