Staff at the Town of Esterhazy have voted 80 per cent in favour of job action, including full withdrawal of services, following a union-dividing request from their employer.

The employees most recent collective bargaining agreement expired two years ago. According to a release from the Candian Union of Public Employees, as part of the bargaining process, the employer is attempting to force the 11 workers to vote on an offer that would “shift seniority and remove members from the bargaining unit.”

This isn’t the first time at the bargaining table for these workers. Recently, the same employer reduced staffing after getting rid of a position in the town office and firing the town’s heavy equipment operator and local union president.

CUPE Representative Dylan Breland says, “The town of Esterhazy has spent significant money hiring consultants instead of paying our members a fair wage.”

Negotiations are ongoing, and the local is not currently in a legal strike position.