Employees from the City of St. Joseph’s Water Protection department voted Wednesday to join Laborers Local Union 579.

According to a news release, the election was set after employees reached out to union representatives to ask for help in joining. The final tally was 22 votes to join the union and eight against.

Workers voted in two shifts Wednesday in the conference room at the Water Protection Facility. Representatives of the State Board of Mediation administered the election. The positive vote comes despite the city’s efforts to discourage the workers from voting to join the union.

The union will represent the workers in future contract negotiations with the City of St. Joseph.

The employees contacted Local 579 shortly after voting to decertify their representation by another union in 2015. Federal labor regulations required the workers to go one year without representation before they could vote to join another union.

Local 579 is based in St. Joseph and represents workers in 16 northwest Missouri counties.