Home Base Yellowknife staff spend more than a year in union limbo

While staff at Home Base Yellowknife unionized more than a year ago, they still have no collective agreement and could now lose union representation.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board, or CIRB, issued an order on April 11, 2024 certifying the Public Service Alliance of Canada, or PSAC, as the bargaining agent for employees of Home Base Yellowknife.

Home Base provides housing and other supports for youth experiencing homelessness in the city.

Following certification of PSAC, unionized employees at Home Base elected a bargaining team and the union subsequently began negotiations with the employer.

An email sent by PSAC to Home Base staff last month, seen by Cabin Radio, states the bargaining team plans to continue fighting to “obtain a fair first collective agreement.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with you to help build a more stable and fairer workplace for all Homebase YK employees,” the email states.

Aaron Manton, a spokesperson for PSAC North, confirmed to Cabin Radio a collective agreement has not yet been reached.

Manton said the union and employer have now entered conciliation.

Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution process in which a neutral third party, known as a conciliator, assists an employer and union at an impasse in negotiations to reach a collective agreement.

Manton acknowledged that “some dealings” with the employer have “been challenging” but said the union is “working hard to advocate for these members” and was looking “forward to achieving a strong collective agreement.”

According to PSAC, all parties have agreed to conciliation meeting dates of November 18-20.

“PSAC is hopeful and fully engaged in this process and we expect the same of this employer,” Manton wrote.

“We are confident that we are close to a first collective agreement, which could be reached as early as the scheduled conciliation dates.”

Confidential report leaked

During the union certification process, a CIRB employee sent a confidential report containing the names of Home Base employees – and whether or not they wanted to unionize – to both PSAC and the employer. 

CIRB regulations prohibit, in most circumstances, the disclosure of “evidence that could reveal membership in a trade union, opposition to the certification of a trade union or the wish of any employee to be represented or not represented by a trade union.”

CIRB told Cabin Radio that once the “inadvertent disclosure” was discovered, it contacted all parties and advised them to destroy all forms of the confidential report in their possession. The board said both PSAC and Home Base confirmed they had done so.

The board further issued a confidentiality order on April 11, 2024, formally requiring that the parties destroy all copies of confidential documents and neither communicate nor disclose their contents. 

“The board recognizes that confidentiality is required as employees may have legitimate concerns of unlawful reprisal for expressing their wishes to be represented or not to be represented by the applicant,” the order states.

It appears at least one former Home Base employee may have faced reprisal for supporting unionization.

A screenshot shared with Cabin Radio of comments left on a Facebook post about the former staff member states they “tried to ruin” a non-profit they worked for by unionizing it and accused them of having a “bad name.”

The comments have since been removed from the post.

Who was behind the comments is unclear. The Facebook profile responsible used a stock image as a profile picture, and the profile can no longer be found on the social media site.

In response to questions about reprisal, CIRB told Cabin Radio that employees are provided some protections under the Canada Labour Code and can discuss those protections with their bargaining agent and explore options if concerns arise.

Application to decertify

Meanwhile, PSAC could lose the right to bargain on behalf of Home Base employees as a staff member has applied for decertification.

Cabin Radio has seen a copy of an application for revocation of PSAC’s bargaining rights related to unionized Home Base employees, also known as decertification. The application was signed on September 1, 2025.

Jean-Daniel Tardif, a spokesperson for CIRB, confirmed to Cabin Radio it had received a revocation application related to unionized Home Base employees.

Why the employee filed for decertification is not clear. They did not return Cabin Radio’s request for comment.

How many unionized Home Base employees support or oppose leaving the union is also unclear.

Tardif said the revocation application is under investigation and the process is “proceeding per established procedures.” Tardif said CIRB could not provide a timeline for issuing a decision.

PSAC’s September email to Home Base employees states that “barring unforeseen circumstances” the union expects the decertification matter will be resolved before conciliation is set to take place in November.

According to the email, CIRB had planned a meeting between the person who filed the revocation application and PSAC on October 9.

PSAC told Cabin Radio, however, that CIRB had not scheduled any meetings between the applicant and the union. It said CIRB “may not schedule any meeting dates if they are not required.”

PSAC’s email indicated the union plans to oppose decertification.

“The decertification application has far reaching consequences for bargaining and on how workplace issues will be handled in the future,” the email states.

“We believe that it would be unwise to lose the protections and rights of the union while we are in the middle of strengthening and fighting for those rights.”

PSAC added that a majority of employees at Home Base had initially decided to unionize due to workplace issues and concerns that “were either not addressed in a timely way or were simply ignored.” It said those concerns included allegations of “workplace favouritism, bullying and harassment.”

The executive director of Home Base, Tammy Roberts, did not return Cabin Radio’s request for comment.