PORT ALBERNI, BC, Nov. 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — More than 50 community supporters joined union workers at the Alberni Golf Club on Sunday, first in downtown Port Alberni and then outside the Alberni Golf Club. They have gathered to say no to mass layoffs, and what the workers are saying is retaliation and an attempt to destroy their union.
Ak Mankhas worked for the club for 38 years and was fired for the first time last Tuesday. “The dismissal was due to feelings of punishment and personal,” he said. “The employer did not honor the collective bargaining agreement we signed at the end of July, and now that we are holding them accountable, they fired us in retaliation, plain and simple!”
Before Manhas was fired, Service Employees International Union Local 2 filed a grievance against golf club management for refusing to pay agreed-upon wage increases and refusing to recognize seniority and seniority rights.
Six unionized seasonal workers were laid off after Labor Day, much earlier in the fall than the typical seasonal layoff in mid-October. Most have worked at Alberni Golf Club for five to eight years. Then, on Tuesday, November 14, in an unprecedented move, the Golf Club laid off its remaining three permanent union employees.
The layoffs had a profound impact on workers such as Karl Wagner and his wife Oona, with whom he had been lovers since he was 15 years old.
“I was so happy when we ratified our first Collective Bargaining Agreement,” said Carl Wagner, who has worked for the club for nearly 14 years. “My wife is a breast cancer survivor and was recently diagnosed with a debilitating lung disease,” he said. “She had to leave her job and I really needed medical benefits. We won them in our Collective Bargaining Agreement, but now we have been laid off and benefits will be delayed. I can't believe someone could be so insensitive and heartless.”
“The fact that my husband would be receiving benefits was like a ton of weight had been lifted off our shoulders,” Una Wagner said. “Unfortunately, before we even had the opportunity to take advantage of these benefits, my husband's employer fired him. In 14 years of working this job, this has never happened before, and there is no reason for them to take these actions.”
The stress and anxiety that the actions of the Club's management have caused families like the Wagners is unfathomable, but the workers are fighting back and receiving great support.
Community supporters at the rally included former British Columbia Labor Minister Harry Baines; British Columbia Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Hermender Singh Keighley; and former IBEW leader Mervyn Van Steynburg.
“When you've been involved in the labor movement for decades, you see a lot of terrible employers, you don't like it, but you see the abuses, you see the excuses, you even get a little jaded. But what the Alberni Golf Course management has done to the workers who take care of that golf course is absolute rock bottom.” said Hermender Singh, who shared encouraging words with the workers.
“Joining a union is something that is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The ability to bargain collectively is your right and we cannot allow an employer like this to take that away from you.”
The workers know they are in for a fight, but they have fought and won before. The community's support only strengthened their resolve.
BACKGROUND
Workers joined SEIU in the fall of 2024 and were forced to go on strike in July 2025 to obtain their first union contract. Their employer fought them tooth and nail during the unionization process and then during their first contract.
SEIU Local 2 represents 20,000 workers in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We are proud members of North America's largest, fastest growing, and most dynamic union.
