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The B.C. Labour Relations Board has ruled in favour of Unite Here Local 40 in its efforts to unionize workers at the Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat.

The Crossroads Lodge is one of three massive accommodation complexes being built or expanded to cater to thousands of workers on the $40-billion LNG Canada project in this northern B.C. town.

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Unite Here Local 40 is trying to unionize 56 kitchen, hotel, reception and janitorial staff at the half-completed lodge on Highway 37. The lodge is already housing 360 workers in private rooms, with 360 more rooms expected to be ready by February 2020. When the project is complete it will employ 120 workers.

The company building and operating the lodge, Horizon North, was opposed to the unionization push on the grounds that there would be more members joining later — a concept known as buildup. The premise of the buildup argument is that it would be undemocratic to permit a smaller group of current employees to determine the representation rights of a future larger group.