The team at Democracy on Locke say they have struggled with understaffing, broken equipment and a lack of stability.
Meanwhile, the crew at Hamilton Bike Share say they have relished in decent wages, strong benefits and a positive workplace culture.
What is one thing the two teams have in common?
Both recently unionized through the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2 — a development one local expert called an unusual gain for small workplaces in Canada.
Democracy has roughly a dozen employees, while Bike Share has roughly two dozen.
Smaller workplaces remain the “least unionized in Canada,” said Stephanie Ross, an associate professor at the School of Labour Studies at McMaster University.
In 2024, Statistics Canada data showed less than 14 per cent of workplaces with under 20 employees were unionized, compared to nearly 30 per cent of workplaces with 20 to 99 employees.
By comparison, more than 50 per cent of workplaces in Canada with more than 500 employees are unionized, noted Ross.
“It is unusual for small businesses like (Democracy and Bike Share) to see unionization,” said Ross. “The stats bear that out.”
Hamiltonians might think of steelworkers, nurses, bus drivers and teachers belonging to unions — not the person repairing the blue bikes that zoom around the city, or behind the espresso machine making a latte.
But that tide started to turn last fall when Bike Share ran a successful union drive, followed by Democracy this past winter.
Bringing ‘democracy to Democracy’
At Democracy, the main issues that led to unionization were broken equipment and understaffing, which led to burnout among employees, staffers Claire Dalingwater and Darian Poisson told The Spectator.
Despite staff raising concerns with management, nothing had changed — and only escalated as a pair of employees walked out on the job, Dalingwater said.
“It wasn’t working for customers either,” said Dalingwater. “The level of service they were getting was way lower than we’d have liked it to be.”
Poisson said she and her coworkers got together earlier this year and started chatting about their worries on the job — only to realize they all shared the same concerns.
“That was the first time that we had some inkling that we could do something about this,” said Poisson.
A manager at Democracy told The Spectator they were “surprised” to learn the team was joining a union, noting that they wished staff had “approached (them) with some of their concerns” beforehand.
“Joining or not joining a union won’t fix a coffee machine or stop someone from resigning to go back to school or take another job,” read the email, signed only with the name Robin, which noted that the café will work with the union. “They have chosen unionization, and we respect that.”
The shop has had “breakdowns and repairs” of equipment, as well as regular turnover, but those issues are industry challenges management does “(their) best to stay on top of,” the email said.
With unionizing, Dalingwater is hopeful employees see more stability, improved health and safety with equipment repairs and a more “respectful workplace” where they can raise concerns without risk of losing their jobs.
“We’re not planning to bargain ourselves out of a job,” said Poisson.
“All we want to do is bring a little bit of democracy to Democracy,” said Dalingwater.
Protecting working conditions
Meanwhile, at Bike Share, employees Elia Hamelin and Magnus Hara say their coworkers unionized to protect the working conditions they’ve come to cherish.
With Bike Share being a non-profit, if there was a change in management or the board of directors, what makes the organization “such a good place to work could be in jeopardy,” Hara said.
“In unionizing, we can solidify our conditions and make improvements on our already existing conditions,” said Hara. “And as workers, have a bit more say in the goings on of our workplace.”
They hope to protect positive relationships with management, decent wages, paid sick days, bereavement leave and vacation time, as well as a workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being, Hamelin said.
“These are things that a lot of workers have to really fight for,” said Hamelin. “They’re already on our table, which is really special and we want to make sure it stays that way.”
Hamelin admitted it took “some convincing” to get the rest of the team on board, as things were already good at the non-profit.
Staff began the journey toward unionizing in the fall. Hara noted management has been great to work with as they continue to negotiate a contract.
Unions gain interest at small workplaces
Brock Bodo, an organizer with SIEU Local 2, told The Spectator that as of this spring, the union represented more than 20,000 workers across Canada.
That includes roughly 700 workers in Hamilton, such as staff at Coven Market, Flamboro Downs, the Immigrant Working Centre, Wesley and hospitality service workers at McMaster University.
The number of workers reaching out to the union has steadily grown, especially among those in the service industry — with many raising concerns about understaffing, low wages and high turnover, Bodo said.
“More people are calling us than before,” said Bodo.
But unionizing isn’t easy, said Ross, pointing to Amazon shuttering its Quebec logistics operations after workers successfully unionized.
Those challenges apply to small businesses, too, said Ross, noting that those establishments are often “more intimate,” where the owner might among the team and people feel greater loyalty to upper management.
“Small businesses tend to rely on those emotional ties and appeals to their workforce to try and prevent them from unionizing,” said Ross.
But Ross said those conditions can help workers unionize, as staff tend to know one another well and have “potential strong bonds of solidarity.”
Ross noted there has also been a movement among staff of so-called progressive and socially conscious businesses that has given a “little bit of wind in the sails” for the idea of unionizing, pointing to the ongoing Starbucks union drives in the United States.
“That demographic of young, socially progressive people is a more pro-union generation,” said Ross. “(They) have a higher expectation of what work should deliver to them.”
Ross said the movement locally shows that everyday workers in Hamilton “want to have a say over their working lives” — and shows other workers what could be possible.
“That is only to the good,” said Ross. “It is important for people to feel that they have some control over their workplace and that they are meaningfully listened to by their employers.”
“Hamilton has always been a big union town,” added Bodo. “It’s good to see.”
