1 A timeline of significant events in the history of Local 401 is provided in appendix A. For a list of companies who employ workers represented by the local, see appendix B.

2 Although the Labour Relations Code was never formally amended, in a November 2009 ruling, made in response to a complaint filed by UFCW Local 401 against Old Dutch Foods, the Alberta Labour Relations Board found the code to be unconstitutional for failing to include a mandatory provision for union security, such as a Rand formula dues check-off. More will be said about this ruling in chapter 3.

3 The “right to strike” decision was handed down on 30 January 2015, in Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v. Saskatchewan, 2015 SCC 4, [2015] 1 SCR 245. In it, the Supreme Court found unconstitutional a Saskatchewan law that prohibited certain public sector workers from striking on the grounds that they perform “essential services.”