EDMONTON – Workers from the Shaw Conference Centre in downtown Edmonton still have their eyes on the prize of a first collective agreement despite having to deal with overwhelming hostility from their employer.

Since May 3, about 200 conference centre workers have been on strike, including waiters, cooks, bartenders, housekeeping staff, and the people who set up special events and maintain the building.

Even before the strike began, the workers were not asking for much: just a little respect and reasonable protection against harassment and unfair treatment.

The workers – many of whom are women or members of visible minorities – are not looking for a wage increase. Instead, they want an anti-harassment policy with teeth. And they want the Conference Centre to end its policy of arbitrarily classifying workers as part-timers even when they work full-time hours.

Despite the modest nature of the workers’ demands, the strike has dragged on for weeks, mostly because the conference centre – which is managed by Economic Development Edmonton (EDE), a board of local businesspeople appointed by City Council – has refused to negotiate.

Instead of bargaining in good faith with the union that was democratically chosen by the workers, EDE has spent its time in court challenging the union’s standing as bargaining agent.

They have also been using as many tricks as they can think of to undermine support for the union among members.

On the positive side, the union – United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 – has so far been able to win the legal battle. Just a few weeks ago, they benefited from a court decision which said EDE has no right to withhold employee contact information.

At the same time, the union has been making some headway with the City of Edmonton, which owns the Conference Centre and sends million of dollars each year to EDE to cover the facility’s operating budget.

As a result of a high-profile lobbying campaign which has included neighbourhood leafleting and hard-hitting newspaper and radio ads, City Council sent a letter to EDE urging them to return to the bargaining table.

Unfortunately, while expressing sympathy for the strikers, Council has so far refused to over-ride EDE’s authority. And the EDE board has shown no sign of softening its inflexible stand.

As the strike drags on, it’s becoming more and more apparent that EDE isn’t really interested in concluding a deal. What they’re really trying to do is starve out the strikers and break the union.

As union president Doug O’Halloran has pointed out, the members of the EDE board are playing with other people’s money – so they feel no financial pressure to settle. And as appointees, there’s no political price to pay for their stubbornness. The result is that the board – dominated by some of Edmonton’s most conservative business people – feels free to indulge in an old-fashioned anti-worker union busting campaign.

Given this reality, it’s clear that the workers may be in for a longer fight than they had initially hoped for. But O’Halloran and other union spokespeople make one thing clear: they’re in this for the long haul. So, look out EDE! This battle is far from over. Stay tuned.