The grounds crew was at the Alberni Golf Club early Monday morning, setting up a picket line to start a strike.
The grounds crew filed to join SEIU Local 2 in November 2024, and the parties have been working to reach an agreement since.
Dallis Van Steinburg, a business agent with the union and lead bargainer, says there have been multiple sticking points for the two parties.
“We hit a bit of a road bump when they decided upon themselves that the seasonal workers shouldn’t be included and then refused to meet with us on the third day of bargaining, because they were upset that we continue to put down proposals that [were] inclusive of seasonal workers,” Van Steinburg said in a phone interview.
“And so we ended up at the board arguing if they were included or not, and we did win that.”
Since then, Van Steinburg says the company has been refusing to come to the table, and the employer filed for mediation after the union issued its first 72-hour strike notice.
“We then went to mediation, which it was going pretty good. It was it was going really well, and we were getting places, and then they got really upset when we got to things like wages and benefits,” Van Steinburg said.
She says the company has since threatened to claw back the worker’s rights to golf and food privileges.
Van Steinburg says after the 72 hour strike notice was filed to start Monday morning, the union did not hear from the employer until Sunday evening.
“The president, Ken, sent some emails asking to bargain. And I said, ‘Absolutely, we can bargain right now. We’ll come down,’” Van Steinburg said.
“And he said, ‘No, we’re on vacation. We can’t do that, but you can tell your guys not to strike, and then we’ll maybe meet with you on Wednesday.’ And I said, ‘No, that’s not how this works.’”
Van Steinburg says the company has since said they will not bargain with the union as long as they are on strike.
In addition to the golf and food privileges, Van Steinburg says the main sticking points in bargaining are wages and benefits.
“These guys have been working here with zero benefits, no medical benefits,” she said.
“Full-time workers worked here long-term, have no benefits.”
The company issued a statement on its website saying the course remains open for play, and inviting members to a town hall to hear from the company.
“We are disappointed that our grounds crew has elected to initiate job action and go on strike,” Ken Sander, president of the golf club said in the statement.
“We have worked very hard to try to prevent this from happening, and now we must deal with the consequences. The Board feels that it is critically important that all members know and understand why our Club is now in the predicament it is, and how we plan to contend with it.”
The golf club will host a town hall at the Cherry Creek Hall on July 22 at 7 p.m.
“The reason for this venue, rather than the Club itself, is that we do not want members to be forced to cross the picket line in order to attend this meeting,” the statement says.
“The purpose of this meeting is to have the opportunity to explain, in detail, the relevant facts related to the negotiations that have been ongoing with the union and its members. It is our feeling that it is extremely important for members to have ALL the facts, rather than just bits and pieces that they have been told, that are possibly not accurate.”
CHEK News has reached out to Sander for more information, and to respond to some of the points raised by the union. This story will be updated if a response is received.