After more than 50 years, a union is a thing of the past at the Laurentian Bank. Its accreditation was officially revoked by the Canada Industrial Relations Board after a deal was reached to end grievances against the employer.

Employees represented by SEPB-Québec Local 434, affiliated with the FTQ union, voted 56 per cent in favour of decertification in March, but the CIRB faced a complaint from the union accusing the employer of unfair practices in the hopes of invalidating the vote.

“The parties agreed to a satisfactory mutual settlement and committed to preserving its confidentiality,” the union said on Wednesday. It did not want to provide details of its grievances or negotiations.

Canada’s seventh-largest bank, Montreal-based Laurentian was the only unionized one.

In an internal statement to employees, the union said it took the “very difficult” decision to end litigation.

“For several years, labour relations between your union and the bank were tense,” read the statement from president Julie Tancrède. “It’s difficult for us to believe that we could improve relations with the bank with a minority vote result.”

The union, with about 600 members representing about 20 per cent of employees at the bank, dates back to 1967.