Unionized workers from across Saskatchewan came together on Thursday, 25 March 2010 to host an information picket in front of the Caleb Village Retirement Community, an assisted care facility in Kindersley, SK. The Caleb Villages are constructed and managed by Saskatoon’s Caleb Group.
Over twenty workers from SEIU-West and the UFCW came from across the Province to support Valerie (Val) Lafortune, a Shift Supervisor in the Housekeeping Department, who was fired from her position for talking to a Union. 

At the rally Val made the following statement;

“Thank you for coming out today. For those of you who don’t know me my name is Val Lafortune and I am the reason you are all here. Last week I was fired from my job at the Caleb Village, Kindersley for talking to the Union.

I want to thank everyone from the SEIU and the other Unions for coming from all across the province today to show me your support.

The Caleb Village is like a big family, and the residents at the Caleb have always told me that every time a staff member gets fired, it’s like a death in the family. I started at Caleb Kindersley when it opened its doors on the 1st of June 2009 and since I was fired last week there is now only one person left from the original staff still in the building.
For a small town like Kindersley that’s a lot of people fired, and a lot of upset residents at the Caleb. So the reason why I talked to the Union is that I have been trying to find a way to stop all these firings and to try and find a way to fix the problems in the building.

I did this so that the residents at the Caleb wouldn’t be upset all the time. I have always said that the problems in the building had to stop, and I was wrongfully dismissed because I was trying to fix those problems by talking to the Union.

Caleb thought they could stop the problems by firing one more staffer… It’s plain to see, they can’t stop this now!

I ask that you respect my privacy at this time and I thank you for your support.”

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