Dear Paladin Security Employee,

Thor Goodmanson recently sent you a letter that contains lies about UFCW Local 832 in an attempt to intimidate you away from choosing a Union. More importantly, he broke the law when he tried to intimidate you and lie about us, and we will be filing what’s called an Unfair Labour Practice against Paladin Security.

In response to Mr Goodmanson’s letter, we want you to know that, yes, we strongly believe you should join UFCW Local 832. We are a Union that has advocated for private-sector security guards for many years. We are very aware of the issues you face at your worksites, and we want to help you improve your wages, benefits and working conditions.

• We have protected members against security employers who will take the word of a client over their employee’s word.

• We have fought against employers who control and suppress hours to prevent workers from getting benefits.

• It’s because of UFCW Local 832 that the Security Guard Minimum Wage and the 40-hour security guard training was created – items that every security guard in this province benefits from.

• We have been a constant voice for security guards in the media during this pandemic. We made sure that the public was aware of your important role during this pandemic

Back to the topic of the Unfair Labour Practice, the three major reasons why we will be filing with the Manitoba Labour Board against Paladin is:

1. Thor Goodmanson is lying to you about our membership sign-up fee being $100. The actual UFCW 832 sign-up fee is only $5! And, you don’t pay this fee until after you vote yes to your first contract, months after you join the Union. Thor has worked at other security firms where UFCW Local 832 has members, he is very aware that our membership sign-up fee is not $100. This clear attempt at misinformation is not allowed under the law.
   
   
2. Thor Goodmanson is threatening to remove your benefits if you decide to join a Union. Employers are not legally allowed to threaten or intimidate workers during a Union organizing drive. Threatening to remove your benefits is a clear attempt at interference and intimidation and cannot happen if the vote to join the Union is successful. With UFCW 832, we would push to improve your benefits and give you clear, enforceable language that clearly explains how to access them.
   
3. Thor Goodmanson is implying that UFCW Local 832 is doing illegal activity.
   We are well within our rights as a Union to talk to workers like you about the problems you have at work and ask about interest in joining a Union. It is a common tactic for an employer to tell workers that Union activities are illegal.

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

If you vote Yes to joining a Union, there are legal protections that prevent your employer from making any changes or alterations to benefits and working conditions at your workplace for up to six months after the vote. After that time, changes would be made at the bargaining table in your first contract, and we would never agree to remove your benefits.

We also want to talk about a few other lies and issues contained within Mr. Goodmanson’s letter:

• UFCW Local 832 is not a ‘for-profit business’ 
  We are classified as a non-profit organization in a technical sense, but our primary responsibility is to support and advocate for our members. UFCW Local 832 is paid by its members to work on their behalf.
  
• ‘You work on Private Property’
  Most of your worksites have public access and it’s not trespassing if we walk up and introduce ourselves. We represent over 2,500 private sector security guards across the province at a very wide variety of worksites. We speak to our members at their worksites all the time.
  
• Paladin has an Employee Care Coordinator
  Employee Care Coordinators and Human Resources Professionals can be great at what they do, but we need to remember where their paycheques come from. A Union Representative is the only person that can speak up to your bosses with no fear of repercussions.
  
• Any company can decide who to promote
  We applaud Paladin for promoting its management from within its employee base, however, it’s silly to brag about this since every other security company also does this. Unionized or not. As a Union, UFCW 832 will fight for all members to be recognized for their years of service and dedication, not just those that the employer chooses to pick as a favourite for good scheduling and site allocations.

Lying about what Unions has always been a common tactic by employers who want to prevent their employees from gaining any fairness, rights or a voice within their workplace.

We hope this letter helps to dispel some of the lies that Thor Goodmanson has sent out. We want bring our experience working with security guards to your workplace to improve your conditions. If you have any questions, we would be happy to answer them.

Loreto Gutierrez, Union Organizer, UFCW Local 832
204-786-5055

loreto.gutierrez@ufcw832.com

Visit www.ufcw832.com/security to find out how you can join the Union!