Several dozen women who work at a shelter in Calgary have voted in favour of job action, but the union said there is no immediate plan to go on strike.

Every year, 12,000 women and children use the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter to leave abusive relationships.

Lou Arab, a spokesman for the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4731, held a news conference Tuesday to announce that 88 per cent of the shelter's 49 workers voted to go on strike. The union is required to issue a 72-hour notice.

Workers have been without a contract since April 2008. The union is seeking a five per cent wage hike per year over the three years of an agreement, but Arab said the shelter is offering a lump sum of two per cent, plus a three per cent increase over the next two years.

The wage range for employees is between about $19 and $24.50 an hour based on a 35-hour workweek, he said.

Stress and burnout are key factors for the shelter's counsellors and support staff and many have to take second jobs to make ends meet, Arab said. The shelter also has too many managers — one for every 1.75 full-time equivalent unionized workers, he said.

A spokesperson for the shelter was set to speak about the contract dispute on Tuesday afternoon, but the press conference was cancelled.

Arab said there has never been a strike at the facility but the workers would only picket the shelter's administrative office, not the shelter itself. Negotiations with the help of a mediator will resume on April 30.