Our History
1991 – 1993
An Introduction To Unions
- Founder of UnionWare, fresh out of University, is contracted by Coopers and Lybrand to customize a “green screen” membership system for the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU). The MGEU had 27,000 members at that time.
- Great learning ground for everything about unions; a full immersion.
1994
We Can Do Better
- With 3 years of experience in hand and a feeling that something better could be created, the first UnionWare prototype was developed and launched at the IMAX Theater in Winnipeg.
- MGEU becomes the first true UnionWare client
- Work begins, converting the prototype into Version 1 of UnionWare
1995-1996
First Clients
- First clients outside of our home town
- OPSEU – Ontario Public Service Employees Union – 125,000 members
- AUPE – Alberta Union of Provincial Employees – 73,000 members
- Start on UnionWare Version 2 to handle the needs of more than one client
1997-1998
More Big Clients
- CEP – Communication Energy and Paperworkers Union – 100,000+ members
- OSSTF – Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation – 60,000 members
- Opened Ontario office
- Product maturing with new technology – development of version 3 starts
- UnionWare staff are unionized after signing first collective agreement
1999-2000
Beyond Canada
- First clients outside of Canada
- SEIU Local 1199 in New York City – largest union local in North America with 300,000 members
- OPEIU – New York City
- Marine Engineers – Washington D.C.
- Realized all services can be provided from one location; closed Ontario office
2001
Summit
- First UnionWare Client Summit
- Great feedback to focus our efforts on the needs of our clients
- Now at 20 clients with one million members
2002-2005
Getting Serious
- Divest of other companies to focus solely on UnionWare
- Begin to hire more staff
- Doubled the size of support department
- Improve upgrade process
- Version 4 development begins
2005-2008
Momentum
- Overwhelmed with new clients – think of a snake swallowing a goat
- Version 4 launches
- Increasing number of staff
2009-2011
Structure
- Apply more structure and planning to our projects
- Hire Director of Project Management
- Separate Product Design from Product Development
- More focus on current clients
- Now at 60 clients with 2 million members
2012-2014
Growth
- Focus shift to web development (e.g., ULink)
- Did away with departments and created teams
- Each team has 5-6 staff (project manager/analysts, developers, technical reps) with their own clients
- Moved beyond North America with our first client in Australia
- Purchased a building to better control our facilities and future
- UnionWare University debuts to bring clients together outside of Summit
- Largest Client Summit so far in Quebec City with over 130 attendees
- Now at 70+ clients with 2.3 million members
2015-Present
Sustained Growth
- Important new role: Chief Operating Officer now leads the day to day
- Added a Quality Assurance department
- Broke another attendance record with Summit 2016, held in Winnipeg
- Formed three new Client Services teams (Momentum, Vanguard
and Frontier) - Welcomed two new Australian unions to the UnionWare family
- Substantial growth for our team; UnionWare now employs 50 dedicated Winnipeggers
- Now at 100+ clients with 3.5 million members