A Saskatoon woman who says being in a union is against her religion has won a case heard by the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board.

The 24-year-old works at the Saskatoon Open Door Society, where workers are represented by the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union.

After she was hired as an employment counsellor at the social agency and told she would have to join the union and pay dues, the woman refused.

She explained she is a longtime member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which believes its members should not join or financially support labour unions or similar organizations.

The woman applied to the board for a religious exemption, which is allowed under certain circumstances under a provision of the province's Trade Union Act.

The union opposed the application. During a hearing on Feb. 10, the union's lawyer noted that the woman testified that if she joined the union, she would face no sanctions from her church.

While the woman testified being in a union might be "very difficult," it was not "irreconcilable" with her religious beliefs, the union said.

The woman said she understood the Seventh-day Adventists' objection to labour unions stemmed in part from the teachings of Jesus Christ that everyone be kind to each other.

The woman also admitted that part of her concern was that she did not want a trade union speaking on her behalf because it might be "confrontational."

She confirmed that she was against strikes or other action by employees to "force their will" upon their employer.

In the Feb. 17 decision written by labour relations board vice-chair Steven D. Schiefner, the board said it was convinced by the woman that a religious exemption was appropriate.

"While her words articulated a 'difficult decision,' the change in the applicant’s demeanor, the quivering in her voice, and the expression on her face, spoke volumes of a deeply religious person being forced into an irreconcilable conflict between the teachings of her church and her desire to pursue her chosen profession," the decision said.

Under the ruling, the woman will not have to join the union or pay union dues. Instead of dues, she will be required to pay an equivalent amount to a charity that she and the union agree on.

The board didn't release the woman's name, saying it refrained from doing so for privacy reasons.