Workers at the Osborne Village location of Stella's Cafe have voted to unionize, according to the union that says it will now represent them.

Twenty of 23 workers who voted Thursday were in support of joining UFCW Local 832, said local president Jeff Traeger. The location has 29 employees in total.

"Eighty-six percent is a very solid message to the employers that their employees want a union to represent them," Traeger said. "And even though I know that the genesis of this was the Not My Stella's campaign, I can tell you from the organizers that have been talking to these workers, there are other issues as well."

The vote followed a social media campaign about workplace treatment at the Winnipeg restaurant chain called Not My Stella's. Shortly after the Instagram account went up in November, dozens of current and former employees posted instances of sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and abuse from senior staff.

The UFCW will represent all servers, dishwashers, cooks, hosts and baristas at the Osborne location, a union news release said Thursday.

Stella's has six other locations in Winnipeg and employs more than 500 people in total. The union also made an application at one of them at 116 Sherbrook St. Workers at that location will vote on whether to join on Friday, Traeger said.

The vote may not be counted that day due to outstanding issues that need to be resolved with the board, he added.

Traeger said issues raised by workers at the Osborne location so far include concerns around scheduling and gratuities.

A spokesperson for Stella's said in an email Thursday evening those issues were discussed in a four-week independent review by People First HR Services, which Stella's sought out following the social media allegations.

The restaurant will embrace all of its recommendations, including those regarding tips and scheduling, she said.

The spokesperson said the restaurant will comment on the unionization following the Sherbrook location vote on Friday.

The first step for the union will be to meet with its new members and learn more about their issues, Traeger said. He expects that will happen in early January.

"Then after that, yes, we will be contacting the employer to have a general discussion about the bargaining process," he said. "Manitoba does have first-contract legislation and so we'll certainly be following that so that we can get this contract done as quickly as is allowed under the Labour Relations Act."

Traeger said UFCW, a private-sector union that represents more than 250,000 workers across Canada, is proud to represent Stella's workers.

"I think that what happens when something becomes as public as [Not My Stella's] did, and when those workers show the courage that they did — actually not just accepting the treatment or not just walking away and going and looking or work elsewhere, but standing up and fighting for it — I think that that has a tendency to bring people together," he said.

"We certainly are honoured to be the union that's representing them, and plan on working very hard to make sure that Stella's is a good place to work as well as a good place to eat."