ALF V1

With 331 jobs set to be lost in Calgary's public schools alone, Join Together Alberta (JTA) is holding a town hall meeting tonight in Calgary to challenge cuts to education, health care, and other vital public services, and to address the real issue: Alberta's broken taxation and royalty system.

"The Calgary Board of Education is losing 172 teaching positions, the Calgary Catholic Board is losing 90 positions and across the province 1200 teaching positions are being cut," says Alberta Teachers' Association President Carol Henderson. "Our schools are being short-changed by over $100 million and our schools cannot handle those types of reductions. Class sizes are increasing, special needs students are losing their supports and our immigrant and refugee students are falling through the cracks."

"Alberta is one of the wealthiest places in the world, blessed with an abundance of extremely valuable natural resources – and yet our government has manufactured a financial crisis that is causing massive layoffs in our schools," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), which represents 145,000 workers and co-chair of the JTA campaign. "Our education system is experiencing the same kind of chaos that has been inflicted on our health-care system, and that pain is also being felt in post-secondary education and in social services struggling to help vulnerable Albertans."

"Cuts to public services are not necessary at this time," says Diana Gibson of the University of Alberta's Parkland Institute, "the Alberta government is giving away billions in needless tax cuts."

"Join Together Alberta is touring the province, mobilizing people from various public service sectors and citizens across Alberta who care deeply about the fabric of our communities. Albertans know that our public services and communities are worth fighting for, and this campaign is going to help make that loud and clear to all political parties," says Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta and co-chair of JTA.

"Today's cuts to education will be felt for generations. In health care, we need excellence in education from early childhood to post secondary levels. These building blocks are crucial in developing the highly skilled health professionals we depend on. But not only is it important to health care, it is important for all sectors of society, for all our children, and all our citizens," says Elisabeth Ballermann, President of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.

Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Location: Parkdale United Church, Conference Room, 2919 8th Avenue NW, Calgary

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Panel Speakers and Media Spokespeople:

• Gil McGowan – President, Alberta Federation of Labour
• Bill Moore-Kilgannon – Executive Director, Public Interest Alberta
• Diana Gibson – Research Director, Parkland Institute
• Elisabeth Ballermann – President, Health Sciences Association of Alberta
• Carol Henderson – President, Alberta Teachers' Association

Please direct media inquiries to:

• Gil McGowan, Alberta Federation of Labour, 780-218-9888
• Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Public Interest Alberta, 780-993-3736

Local urban Canada Post workers are solidly on the picket line now after Canada Post locked them out Tuesday night.

That's a change from Tuesday morning when striking workers in Fort McMurray brought out the picket signs for the first time since the strike's June 3 start with the intention of only picketing two days a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays.

That was because the corporation had cut carriers to three days a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday — leading union members to treat the other two days as lock-out days, with picket lines set up in front of the Hardin Street and Riedel Street postal buildings.

Dana Gabriel, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 736 in Fort McMurray, said this morning that CUPW has been ready and willing to negotiate for weeks because "we've been ready to negotiate a fair agreement ... but Canada Post didn't seem to want to."

He believes Canada Post had the lock out planned all along.

Gabriel had pointed out Tuesday that the Canadian charter says that when Canada Post became a corporation, that there will be mail delivery five days a week to businesses and residences.

Late Tuesday morning, a group of about 20 workers were carrying signs and making noise outside Canada Post's main Riedel location. Numerous honks and shouts of supports from passersby earned rollicking shouts of thanks in return.

"We picketed Hardin Street this morning from seven to nine, now we have another one, 11 to one here," said Gabriel Tuesday.

He noted that support for the striking workers has been "awesome."

"A lot of horn blowing; truckers are great, getting those loud horns going on the highway this morning from all sorts of people, from company trucks, from personal vehicles, the support's been great."

Joining Gabriel and his co-workers on the picket line Tuesday was Nancy Furlong from the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"There are ongoing problems across this country with employers attacking pension plans and this is an important strike because they're holding the line in terms of pensions," said Furlong. "The same thing is happening with the current CAW strike with Air Canada and we expect to see that everywhere because employers are trying to deny workers the right to retire at a decent rate at a decent age and that's going to continue to be problem all this summer."

She said it's wonderful the Canada Post workers are standing firm on the issue.

Gabriel noted the CUPW national president Denis Lemelin, and Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra met with federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, and CUPW offered to come back under the old contract which expired in January "as long as they guaranteed we could deliver the mail five days a week.

"Canada Post basically told them no and that they were going to a three-day work week. It's sort of like the tail wagging the dog," said Gabriel.

"There is mail to be delivered. ... We want to work. We want to service our customers and the corporation isn't letting us."

On Thursday, the striking workers are holding a solidarity barbecue 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hardin Street location and Gabriel said members of the public are invited including brothers and sisters from other unions.

Meanwhile, a statement issued Tuesday by Canada Post said financial losses are mounting as the rotating strike enters its 12th day. Canada Post estimates that it has lost over $70 million in revenue, a figure that is climbing daily.

Exacerbating the problems is the fact that Canada Post is continuing to incur a significant wage bill for 48,000 members of CUPW while their union inflicts massive losses on the company through costly rotating strikes, said the announcement.

The uncertainty of where CUPW members will strike from day-to-day made it difficult for Canada Post to plan its logistics and transport network let alone the staffing levels. Tuesday's strike action in the two largest metropolitan centres in Canada — Toronto and Montreal — where over 60% of national mail volume originates will cripple the whole postal network. If rotating strikes continue to impact the business at this pace, Canada Post will not be in a position to sustain its operations across the country.

Fort McMurray Today, Wed Jun 15 2011
Byline: Carol Christian

When a few hundred oil workers in southwestern Kazakhstan launched a strike to demand higher wages in early May, no one expected the protest would last long or have much of an impact.

But what began as a small-scale strike has awoken the country's long dormant labor movement, and is growing into the greatest organized challenge the Kazakh government has faced in 10 years.

"We will continue [our protest] until the end," said one striker in the port city of Aqtau, who gave his name only as Kelbaev.  "As long as we don't get what we are demanding, until we get higher wages, we will remain here [on strike]."

The strikes have expanded in scope and scale. The initial protest at the Karazhanbas oil field near Aqtau has swelled to include thousands of oil workers.

Not far from Karazhanbas, transportation workers are striking at the OzenMunaiGaz company, disrupting oil deliveries. Miners' and gas-workers' unions have expressed solidarity, and in the northern city of Kokshetau, investors in the KazRosInvestproyekt limited-liability company have been protesting for three weeks.

According to Kelbaev, the strike in Aqtau is falling on deaf ears in the capital, Astana, 1,700 kilometers away. "We have been speaking only with local officials," he said. "No one from the government [in Astana] has come and met with us. They are not even paying attention."

High Stakes

But the ultimate goal is to be heard by the Kazakh government, which was accustomed to large protests in the 1990s when its seat was in Almaty and the population was clamoring over unpaid wages.

Since then, however, the country's rising oil revenue and accompanying improvement in the standard of living has helped relegate protests to small, local affairs centered on narrow issues.

The opposition is watching events closely, with parliamentary elections scheduled for 2012, hoping to imitate these rallies and tap into popular sentiment during next year's election campaign.

The stakes are high, with both registered and unregistered parties preparing to enter a parliament whose seats are filled entirely by members of the ruling party, Nur-Otan.

Radio Free Europe, Wed Jun 15 2011

EDMONTON - After a day in which 326 Edmonton teaching positions were likely lost, school boards say they desperately need consistent funding.

Both Edmonton school boards passed versions of their budgets Tuesday that include severe cuts. Now, boards across Alberta say they need five years of sustained funding to escape the roller-coaster of finances that stunts long-term planning.

"It's critically important that the government provide predictable and sustained funding," said public board chair Dave Colburn. "We absolutely have to find a new funding model."

Debbie Engel, chair of the Catholic board, agreed with Colburn that five years of predictable funding would be ideal. "With three years, we could do a good job of planning for the future, but could do a better job with five."

Jacquie Hansen, president of the Alberta School Boards Association, said schools are at the mercy of oil prices and a boom-and-bust economy. The last few years of recession have been particularly bad. New programs fail because funding is pulled after the first year.

Hansen said a five-year plan, similar to funding for Alberta Health Services, would make education "more than a line item in the budget."

Tuesday night, the public board passed a budget that Colburn called "heartbreaking."

Within the $851 million budget, 345 full-time jobs will be cut, including 229 teaching positions.

The budget will use $21.5 million in reserve funding, which leaves no surplus for the public board by the time the next school year ends.

In 2009, the board's surplus fund, used for any unpredictable expenses in a school year, was $52 million. Now it's gone.

"The trend over the past three years has been disturbing," Colburn said. "It raises serious questions about the adequacy of funding from the province."

The budget signals a loss of nearly any flexibility as principals become teachers and lose time for professional development.

All 62 school boards in Alberta are reporting a net loss this year, Hansen said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Edmonton Catholic board passed a draft budget that will cost it 97 teaching positions in the next school year, as well as 63 support staff and 24 custodial positions.

Currently, the Catholic district has 1,848 full-time teaching positions. The public district has roughly 4,000.

Earlier this year, the province increased the overall education budget, but only enough to cover the promised 4.5-per-cent wage increase for teachers. It cut back many of its other programs, particularly the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement and English Language Learning program.

That led to a $9.6-million shortfall for the Catholic board. Its draft budget reflects a $1.8-million operating deficit, which leaves the district with a surplus of $2.4 million, half of what the surplus was three years ago.

Both boards have said class sizes will be affected because they have a growing number of students and fewer teachers.

Education Minister Dave Hancock said the potential number of teachers cut was higher than he expected, but he was "not overly" concerned.

Hancock said changes in class sizes will likely not affect education.

While Colburn agrees there are differing views on how class sizes affect education, he said the number of students per teacher is always a priority concern for parents.

The Catholic board's draft budget, which is scheduled for an approval vote on June 28, is $353 million.

Decisions about which schools will lose teachers won't be made until enrolment numbers are known in the fall.

The Alberta Federation of Labour and other groups held a town-hall meeting in Calgary Wednesday night to address public sector cuts, especially cuts to education. A similar meeting will be held in Edmonton on June 23.

Edmonton Journal, Wed Jun 15 2011
Byline: Ryan Cormier

Using legislation to force employees back to work will not bring labour peace or prosperity to Air Canada, says the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"The only way to secure a good long-term future for any employer in a dispute with its workers – whether it's Air Canada or Canada Post – is for the two parties to reach a deal together," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, which represents 145,000 workers.

"Using back-to-work legislation removes the incentive for the employer to come to the table and negotiate. With the hands of the workers tied, the employer can impose an unjust and unpopular deal that fails to address the issues that led to the dispute," says McGowan.

"This is simply a recipe for more problems down the road. We all know that corporations work best when management and employees work together. It was the willingness of Air Canada employees, including the members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 2002, to work with management and make sacrifices that helped the airline survive the recession. Instead of interfering in negotiations, the federal government should be staying neutral and helping both sides reach a deal they can live with, now that the airline is doing better," he says.

"After less than 24 hours of strike action by customer service and reservations agents - and with no flights being cancelled and little disruption reported - the government's claim that there is a threat to the national economy lacks even a shred of credibility."

Meanwhile, McGowan said he was "profoundly disappointed" that Canada Post had forced a nationwide lockout of members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

"The mail was getting through, even if delayed as a result of rotating strikes. The union is still willing to negotiate. Forcing a nationwide stoppage is a reckless move," says McGowan.

"This makes no sense – unless the federal Tories have a different endgame in mind for Canada Post. We fear that the Conservative-appointed managers at the corporation are not trying to save Canada Post, but are trying to destroy it, in order to justify the privatization of our public postal service," he says.

"Privatization of the postal service will mean two things for Canadians – poorer services and higher prices. It will mean one thing for the corporate friends of the federal Tories – a chance to profit at the expense of citizens."

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MEDIA CONTACT: Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888

Issue: 48,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have been locked out by Canada Post

Actions Requested: Help them on the picket lines in your area. In Edmonton, go to the main plant at 12135-149 Street or to the downtown plant at 9808 - 103A Avenue. In Calgary, join them at 1100 - 49 Avenue, N.E. In Fort McMurray, go to the Hardin Street deport between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday for a BBQ on the line. Check your local Canada Post depots for other picket lines.

When: Tonight (Wednesday, June 15th) and tomorrow (Thursday, June 16th)

Issue – CUPW Calls on Allies for Support

Canada Post locked out 48,000 workers across the country last night (Tuesday, June 14th). Today, they have been on the picket lines and are asking us to come out to provide support and strengthen those lines.

Anyone able to come by the main Edmonton plant at 12135-149 Street or the downtown plant 9808 - 103A Avenue would be appreciated. At the main Edmonton plant, the early shift 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. is in desperate need of fortifying the lines.

CUPW says it does not know what the next 48 hours holds, but the federal government is positioning itself to impose back-to-work legislation. Flooding MP offices with calls and e-mails and coming out to join the picket lines to bolster support would lift the spirits of our brothers and sisters.

click here for PDF of letter

June 15, 2011

The Honourable Ed Fast
Minister of International Trade
Government of Canada
Ottawa, ON

[email protected] / fax (613) 996-9795

Dear Minister Fast,

The Trade Justice Network and the Quebec Network on Continental Integration (RQIC) congratulate you on your recent re-election to the House of Commons and appointment to lead Canada's important international trade file. The networks, which represent labour, environmental, farmers, cultural, student, Indigenous and other public interest groups in Canada and Quebec, support greater engagement and trade with Europe as part of a fair and balanced Canadian trade agenda.

The Trade Justice Network came together in February 2010 because of concerns, shared by RQIC, that the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) could undermine important social, economic and environmental policy on both sides of the Atlantic. Since that time, we have advocated openness and public debate on CETA in our communications with local, provincial, and federal government representatives. We have met with Members of the

European Parliament from all political parties on multiple trips to Brussels, and we continue to receive briefings from Canada's lead negotiator following each round of CETA talks.

Based on these meetings, and a careful reading of leaked copies of the CETA text, we know the proposed Canada-EU free trade agreement has the potential to transform the Canadian and Quebec economies in important ways. For example, the agreement will place new constraints on how the provinces, territories and Canadian municipalities make public policy. From culture to agriculture, telecommunications to procurement, the regulation of finance to the delivery of public services, copyright law to drug patent terms, CETA will affect many policy areas which are best decided by federal and provincial legislatures.

At the same time, serious questions have been raised about the projected gains from a comprehensive Canada-EU trade deal. For example, a Sustainability Impact Assessment conducted for the European Commission found GDP growth would be less than half what was estimated in a 2008 joint study the Canadian and EU governments used to justify commencing negotiations. Another Canadian study estimates job losses of between 28,000 and 150,000, based on the natural effect of imports and exports on multiple sectors. We feel these studies present a strong case for slowing down the negotiations with the EU while a public debate can be held on the risks and benefits of CETA.

The Trade Justice Network and RQIC would appreciate an opportunity to meet with you at your convenience to go over our concerns in more detail. As two broad-based networks of Canadian and Quebec civil society organizations, we have expertise across many sectors which we hope can be of assistance to the federal government as it moves forward with its CETA negotiations.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

The Trade Justice Network

Email: [email protected] / 416-979-0451

Trade Justice Network / Réseau pour un Commerce juste (TJN / RCJ) member organizations:

Alberta Federation of Labour, Alternatives, ATTAC-Québec, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), Canadian CED Network, Canadian Conference of the Arts, Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), Canadian Federation of Students

(CFS), Canadian Health Coalition, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), CUPE Ontario, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), Council of Canadians, The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Manitoba Federation of Labour, National Farmers Union (NFU), National Union of Public and General Employees (NUGPE), New Brunswick Federation of Labour, Northern Territories Federation of Labour, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, Ontario Federation of Labour, PEI Federation of Labour, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO), Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, Sierra Club Canada, Toronto and York Region Labour Council, United Steelworkers (USW), Yukon Federation of Labour.

Réseau québécois sur l'intégration continentale (RQIC)

Courriel: [email protected] / 514-383-2266

RQIC member organizations: Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS), Alternatives, Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical, Association mondiale des radiodiffuseurs communautaires (AMARC), Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI), Attac-Québec, Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD), Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO), Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Conseil central de Montréal métropolitain (CCMM-CSN), Développement et Paix, Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ), Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ), Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ), Fédération Interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), Groupe de recherche sur l'intégration continentale (GRIC-UQAM), Ligue des droits et libertés, Mouvement d'éducation populaire et d'action communautaire du Québec (MÉPACQ), Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes (RQGE), Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels du gouvernement du Québec (SPGQ).

Issue: CAW Local 2002 members at Air Canada will hit the picket lines at Calgary and Edmonton International Airports on the morning of Tuesday, June 14

Actions Requested: Join the picket lines to show your support for workers as they attempt to get a fair contract from Air Canada

When: Between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, June 14

Issue:

Air Canada employees have seen a substantial deterioration in compensation and working conditions over the last decade, with real wages after inflation declining to the tune of more than $10,000 per year in purchasing power for members of CAW Local 2002.

Despite this drop in earning power and working with 45-per-cent fewer staff, productivity has soared by 75 per cent – thanks to the efforts of hard-working and dedicated employees. Indeed, Air Canada has won multiple awards for quality service.

Now, with Air Canada recovering from turbulent economic times and reporting financial success, the company has chosen to attack its workers, demanding concessions on pensions, on outsourcing and on part-time work.

While asking employees and their families to tighten their belts – again - Air Canada CEO Calvin Rovinescu enjoyed a 76-per-cent raise last year, with his earnings at $4.55 million. On top of that, he gets more in share appreciation and will be paid a $5-million "retention bonus" in March 2012.

CAW Local 2002 is fighting the attempt to slash the pension plan for existing and future workers and to create a two-tier workforce – and it needs your help. Join them on the picket lines at Calgary and Edmonton International Airports between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14. In Edmonton, you report to the Gulf Stream Room, Executive Royal Inn, 8450 Sparrow Drive, Leduc. In Calgary, report to the Otter Room, Acclaim Hotel, 123 Freeport Boulevard NE, Calgary.

Now that Air Canada is financially successful, it's time to share that success with the workers who have helped them to achieve it. It's only fair.

(Russ Feingold speaking at the ongoing "Walkerville" protests in Wisconsin against the Republican state budget)

With time running out before the recall elections and the legal battle over collective bargaining rights still bottled up in the courts, Wisconsin Republicans are finally ready to bite the bullet and re-pass the legislation that started this whole fight. They have called an "extraordinary session" to push through the state budget, and have announced they will include the measure stripping collective bargaining rights for most public employees in that budget:

The Legislature will put Gov. Scott Walker's limits on collective bargaining into the state budget Tuesday if the state Supreme Court hasn't ruled on the matter by then, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) said Monday.

"If need be, we are going to have to pass collective bargaining again," Fitzgerald said at a Capitol news conference. "My caucus is more solid on that collective bargaining vote than they ever have been."

There was always a certain inevitability to this. It's something Wisconsin Republicans could have done at any time—even if the Wisconsin 14 had left the state again—as long as they just posted 24 hours notice. Thus far, they have demurred because they didn't want to take such an unpopular vote so close to the recall elections. But, in the end, this group of Wisconsin Republicans wants to bust some unions while they still can.

Notably, transit workers are exempt from the new measure. This is not because of public pressure against Wisconsin Republicans, to which they appear impervious, but rather because they finally realized that busting transit worker unions would cost the state big money:

Local government transit workers would retain their collective bargaining rights under the latest version of Gov. Scott Walker's union proposal to be voted on by the Legislature this week.

The first version passed in March but tied up in the courts covered transit workers, even though there was a concern that Wisconsin could lose about $60 million a year in federal transit aid if the workers' collective bargaining rights were removed.

They would join local police and firefighters, along with the State Patrol, in retaining their bargaining rights under the latest version the Assembly is taking up Tuesday as part of the state budget.

A lengthier version of the same AP story, which you can read here, provides more context. Basically, while this group of Wisconsin Republicans does indeed want to bust unions, they want some sweet, sweet federal money even more.

(See noise of rain's diary for more on the "extraordinary session" of the Wisconsin state legislature.)

Dailykos.com, Tues Jun 14 2011

DONATE HERE - Thank you everyone for the outpouring of support.

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CHECKS can be made payable to the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Defense Fund, 6333 W. Blue Mound Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53213 On memo line write: STAND WITH WISCONSIN. (Donations are NOT tax deductible).

We have been contacted by individuals and groups from all over regarding the need for financial support in our fight against Governor Walker's Budget Repair Bill and its attacks on Collective Bargaining Rights. No matter how small, any support would be greatly appreciated.