Poly Cello employees vote on union representation

Employees of Amherst, N.S.-based flexographic packaging manufacturer Poly Cello voted last week on whether they want to unionize.

The decision was put to the vote after Teamsters Local 927 was able to sign up more than 40 per cent of the company’s employees.

“The turnout has been great, of course we won’t know the result for a few days,” said Local 927 president Chuck Chalmers in an interview with the Amherst Daily News late last week.

Poly Cello has refused to publicly comment on the matter, but employees have received a letter indicating that the company would prefer not to be unionized. According to the Daily News, Poly Cello president and CEO Stephen Emmerson has also indicated that unionization could reduce the company’s competitiveness.

The move to unionize has also been derided by Amherst mayor Jerry Hallee, who ran the company before taking his seat as the city’s chief. He said Poly Cello is the city’s largest employer, and expressed concerns about what a union would mean for the company.

“I’m very concerned about this because they are one of the biggest employers in town,” he told the Daily News. “If we lose even 25 per cent of that, that’s a heck of a lot of jobs.”

Media reports have indicated that results of the union representation vote are expected shortly.

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