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Alberta is the only province where Workers' Compensation Board staff get bonuses for swiftly getting injured workers off benefits and back to work -- and must discontinue these "immoral" incentives, according to the Alberta Federation of Labour.

Liberal critic Hugh Mac-Donald revealed last week that Alberta's WCB uses bonuses to reward staff when the entire organization meets certain targets, which this year included a focus on helping return the injured to work and drafting clearly written decision letters to workers and their families.

The AFL has been in contact with its counterparts across Canada and said Alberta is alone in using such bonuses on staff who evaluate workers' compensation claims.

"The use of financial incentives to encourage WCB case managers to disallow claims or move injured workers back to work when they may not be ready for it is not only a built-in conflict of interest, we go so far to say it is an immoral abuse of the workers' compensation system," said Gil McGowan, president of the AFL.

The only other province that has come close to establishing a similar policy in the past was Newfoundland, which tried to introduce a job description for its WCB case managers making the "financial viability" of the board a priority in making decisions on individual cases, said McGowan.

While she could not comment on whether WCBs in other provinces use bonus systems, board spokeswoman Jennifer Dagsvik said Alberta's focus on helping injured workers get back to work -- even in a modified role -- is also meant to aid in a healthy recovery.

The longer an injured worker is off the job, the less likely they are to ever return to work, Dagsvik wrote in an e-mail interview.

"We care about our clients and believe our focus on helping workers integrate back into the job is the right one, and the statistics clearly indicate our current system works," she said.

The labour federation is also concerned about premium levels the WCB charges employers, which are lower than all other provinces.

According to the WCB web-site, employers are charged an average of $1.32 per every $100 of insurable earnings. By comparison, there's a $1.56 employer premium in British Columbia, $1.63 in Saskatchewan and $1.60 in Manitoba.

"What it says to us is that the people running Alberta's Workers' Compensation Board have their priorities seriously confused. It suggests they are more interested in keeping premiums low for employers than they are about providing support and rehabilitation for Alberta workers who have been injured on the job," McGowan said.

The Workers' Compensation Act requires the WCB to collect enough employer premiums to ensure it can cover all claim costs, both current and in the future, and the WCB must charge the premiums needed to do so, Dagsvik said.

"Our lower premium rates are reflective of good employer and worker claims performance. Even though the actual cost per claim goes up each year, and the average length of total disability has increased to just over a month (35 days away from work), the volume of claims has gone down," said Dagsvik.

While MacDonald continues to lobby against WCB staff bonuses, the Liberal labour critic disagrees with the labour federation that WCB premiums charged to employers are too low.

Alberta's premiums are the lowest in Canada, but having competitive WCB payroll rates is an economic incentive, Mac-Donald said.

Calgary Herald, Sun July 25 2010
Byline: Sarah McGinnis

CALGARY - Alberta is the only province where Workers Compensation Board staff get bonuses for swiftly getting injured workers off benefits and back to work - and must discontinue these "immoral" incentives, according to the Alberta Federation of Labour.

It was revealed last week that Alberta's WCB uses bonuses to reward staff who help return the injured to work.

The AFL said Alberta is alone in using such bonuses.

"The use of financial incentives to encourage WCB case managers to disallow claims or move injured workers back to work when they may not be ready for it is not only a built-in conflict of interest, we go so far to say it is an immoral abuse of the workers' compensation system," said Gil McGowan, president of the AFL.

Board spokeswoman Jennifer Dagsvik said Alberta's focus on helping injured workers get back to work is also meant to aid in a healthy recovery. The longer an injured worker is off the job the less likely they are to ever return to work, she said.

Canada.com, Sun July 25 2010

Alberta WCB puts higher priority on keeping employer premiums low instead of providing service to injured workers, says AFL

New research from the Alberta Federation of Labour shows that Alberta's Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) is the only board in Canada that follows the "immoral" practice of paying bonuses to staff as an incentive to trim their caseloads.

The Alberta WCB also collects the lowest premiums in Canada from employers in dangerous industries, says the AFL.

For example, employers in Alberta's oil and natural gas exploration sector pay only 55ﾢ/$100 payroll in WCB premiums. Companies in the rest of Canada pay four times as much, at $2/$100 payroll.

Industrial construction companies in Alberta pay just $2.04/$100 payroll. In the rest of Canada, such companies pay more than double that, at $4.30/$100 payroll.

"The Alberta WCB's low premium rates and its immoral bonus system for case managers are two sides of the same coin," says AFL president Gil McGowan.

"After years of putting a priority on premium reduction, the Alberta WCB simply doesn't have the funds to fulfill its mandate of supporting and rehabilitating injured workers. Sadly, instead of increasing premium rates, the board has focused on finding new ways to deny claims and otherwise reduce pay-outs. This perverse and despicable bonus system is the pinnacle of this process."

McGowan's comments came in response to recent revelations that the Alberta WCB has been paying bonuses - averaging $5,600 a year - to staff members who help the board meet its "corporate goal" of premium reduction.

A survey of other provinces conducted by the AFL revealed that no other Canadian WCBs give bonuses to their case managers for closing files or meeting "quotas."

The closest that any province came was Newfoundland which, a few years ago, tried to introduce a job description for its WCB case managers stating that one of their priorities would be to consider the "financial viability" of the board when making their decisions.

That clause in the job description was eventually eliminated after the union representing WCB workers raised strenuous objections on the grounds that it would make it difficult for their members to carry out their core responsibility - which is to provide benefits and support to injured workers based on the best medical advice, not on financial objectives or targets set by management.

"It's perhaps not surprising that Alberta is the only province that has this kind of perverse bonus system. We're also the only province where WCB employees are not represented by a union," says McGowan. "No union would ever have allowed this kind of system to be imposed. It puts WCB staff members in a horrible conflict-of-interest position."

McGowan says that the bonus system in Alberta literally adds insult to injury for injured workers.

He points out that Alberta has a much higher workplace fatality rate than the rest of Canada (5.9 per 100,000 workers compared with 4.2 per 100,000 workers in the rest of Canada) and that we have many more people working in dangerous occupations than other provinces (22 per cent of Albertans work in the four most dangerous industries versus about 15 per cent in other provinces).

"Given these realities, the Alberta WCB should be collecting more premiums and paying out more for benefits and rehabilitation than other provinces. The fact that they don't - and instead are constantly focused on premium reductions for employers - shows that the Alberta WCB's priorities are seriously confused."

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Media Contact:

Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour (780) 218-9888

EDMONTON - Canada's temporary foreign worker program is no longer working for Alberta, the province's employment and immigration minister said Tuesday.

"In my opinion, it was a program that had fulfilled its mandate, (by) suddenly providing a large number of workers to an economy that suddenly had a massive shortage of workers," Thomas Lukaszuk said.

"It's not working well now. It's a temporary solution to a permanent problem."

Starting this fall, Lukaszuk's parliamentary assistant -- Calgary MLA Teresa Woo-Paw -- will lead a series of roundtable discussions all over Alberta to reassess the federal temporary foreign worker program.

Woo-Paw's findings will be the basis for recommendations to Ottawa on how to change the program.

In recent years, federal restrictions on temporary foreign workers have eased, allowing people from a variety of skill and educational backgrounds to come to Canada on working visas no longer than two years.

Among all provinces and territories, Alberta has seen the biggest boost in temporary foreign workers in the last five years.

By December 2009, the province was home to nearly 66,000 people on temporary work visas. In December 2005, just 16,000 people lived in Alberta under the same visa restrictions.

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ontario -- with a much bigger population -- counted 95,000 short-term workers in December. British Columbia had 69,000 and Quebec had just 31,000.

The temporary program is not supposed to be a gateway to long-term residency, an issue Lukaszuk said paves the way for the same employers to keep on hiring new foreign workers for the same jobs.

"Anecdotally ... probably the top 80 per cent of temporary foreign workers, given the chance, would love to just stay," Lukaszuk said.

"Why not consider some permanency (for) this workforce. I always joke the only group that really benefits from the current temporary foreign worker program is Air Canada, because they're flying people in and out."

The president of Alberta's Hotel and Lodging Association said the program had worked well for the service sector, but acknowledged the need for front-line labour exceeds short-term solutions.

"I think there is room for improvement," Dave Kaiser said, adding the program needs the flexibility to allow people to stay longer.

But Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan called the program a "train wreck."

While he was pleased Lukaszuk and Woo-Paw plan to review the program, he said it doesn't work for foreign workers, Canadian workers or employers.

"This is a program that's so dysfunctional it probably has to be scrapped entirely," McGowan said.

He pointed to a government report released this spring by the NDP that showed incidents of temporary foreign workers not being paid for overtime or statutory holidays.

McGowan said thousands of people have been brought to Canada with little understanding of their rights.

"What essentially we've done is create a European-style guest worker program," he said. "We think both the federal and provincial governments ought to go back to the drawing board."

Edmonton Journal, Wed July 21 2010
Byline: Trish Audette

While other politicians have been using the first few weeks of summer to hit the barbecue circuit, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has been engaged in a much more solitary pursuit: he's been writing letters in defence of a pipeline.

The pipeline in question is TransCanada's Keystone XL, which if approved by U.S. regulators, would have the capacity to send as much as 900,000 barrels of raw bitumen from the Alberta oilsands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast each day.

Last week, Stelmach wrote letters to a number of high-ranking American officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging them to approve the pipeline despite concerns raised by American and Canadian environmentalists.

This week, the premier turned his attention north of the border, firing off a letter to federal NDP Leader Jack Layton.

Stelmach was apparently annoyed because Layton is opposing the pipeline on the grounds that it would result in the loss of thousands of jobs in refining and upgrading -- jobs that could have been created in Alberta, but (thanks to XL) will now be created in Texas and other Gulf of Mexico states.

Stelmach's letters to the Americans can legitimately be criticized for presenting an overly optimistic picture of the oilsand's environmental record. But it is the premier's letter to Layton that displays an even more muddled approach to logic.

Pipelines, the premier argues, provide access to markets for bitumen, thereby creating jobs for Albertans working on the extraction side of the oilsands sector.

Fair enough if all you want to do is sell raw bitumen. But if we are all agreed that creating jobs here in Alberta is a good thing, then surely creating more jobs is better -- and creating long-term jobs is better still.
Despite his claim that "the government of Alberta is strongly committed to growing and preserving Canadian jobs," Stelmach's enthusiastic support for a succession of massive bitumen pipelines (starting with Enbridge's Alberta Clipper and TransCanada's Keystone Phase I and continuing with Keystone XL and Enbridge's proposed Gateway pipeline to the Pacific) makes one wonder.

The premier seems content to settle for the short-term jobs generated by pipeline construction and the smaller number of long-term jobs generated by extraction-only developments while leaving thousands of high-paying, long-term jobs in upgrading, refining and oilsandsrelated manufacturing to the Americans and others outside Canadian borders.

Of course, Stelmach touts his Bitumen Royalty In Kind (BRIK) program as a tool for keeping upgrading jobs in the province. But the BRIK program will only make 75,000 barrels per day available for Alberta-based upgrading, a drop in the bucket of Alberta's overall oilsands production which is currently pegged at about 1.4 million barrels per day and expected to increase to three million barrels per day in 2018. Meanwhile, reports in the media tell us that oilsands-related manufacturing opportunities continue to be lost. Imperial Oil plans to bring in 200 modules made in Korea for its Kearl oilsands project, while a Montana company recently said it plans to build similar modules in Billings.

When discussing oilsands jobs, it's important to remind ourselves that the oilsands belong to Albertans. We are the owners. If there are jobs to be created -- in manufacturing, in mining or in upgrading -- then the government should ensure that as many of those jobs as possible stay here in Alberta. That is the job of government. Unfortunately, it's a job where Alberta is falling behind other provinces.

In Ontario, for example, rules governing electrical generation have been introduced that say companies cannot feed into the power grid unless 50 per cent of the generation system has been manufactured in that province. This has recently led Samsung to invest $7 billion to set up manufacturing facilities in southern Ontario to build wind turbines and solar panels, with a plan to create 16,000 jobs.

Quebec has embarked on a plan to build wind-energy facilities and has ensured that most of the equipment will be manufactured in that province. Government-owned utility company Hydro-Quebec says 60 per cent of the cost of each wind farm must be incurred in that province, meaning that wind-generation companies must have manufacturing and assembly facilities there.

What's happening in Ontario and Quebec raises the question: Why isn't the Alberta government taking similar steps to keep oilsands-related manufacturing jobs in the province? And why isn't it using regulation to guarantee Alberta-based upgrading and refining (as the Lougheed government did to create Alberta's petrochemical industry)?

The premier has the power to act for the good of Albertans. The government can set rules that require more manufacturing and upgrading be done in the province. It can also set -- and enforce -- tough standards that protect our environment and ensure our access to markets.

Instead of fighting to get bitumen across the border, let's focus on upgrading and refining the stuff here (while observing the highest environmental standards). Obviously, we're going to need pipelines to get our product to market. But the government should be making sure those pipes are carrying refined products, not raw bitumen and lost jobs.

By Gil McGowan
Edmonton Journal, Fri July 16 2010

"Refine it Where We Mine it", a public campaign advocating for more Alberta upgraders, is pushing the province to process more Alberta oil here at home.

The partnership of municipalities and industry says the government should provide incentives and invest in infrastructure. But others say it's not government's job and the private sector should bear the costs.

What kind of economic impact could more upgraders have? Is the timing right to build them? And should taxpayers help foot the multi-billion dollar price-tag?

Joining us for this conversation are Neil Shelly, executive director of the Industrial Heartland Association, the group driving the "Refine it Where We Mine it" campaign, Gil McGowan is president of the Alberta Federation of Labour and Scott Hennig is Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Alberta Primetime, July 15, 2010

See the debate here:

http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Stories.aspx?pd=1255&FlashVars=Video/PTG_07150.flv

McKesson Canada workers hit the picket lines in Edmonton

• 213 members of UFCW 401 at McKesson Canada in Edmonton are on strike, with the issues including wage parity with employees in Calgary and increases to benefits that have not changed in five years and have been eroded by inflation. Instead, management is seeking concessions.  For more information ...

Alberta's jobs crisis continues

• While Canada has recently seen an increase in full-time employment, Alberta has bucked the trend and has been shedding full-time jobs - 9,600 of them between May and June 2010. Instead of acting to improve the situation, the Alberta government has cut job-training programs, mostly aimed at helping youth and aboriginal workers. Meanwhile, social assistance caseloads have soared by 50 per cent. Read more at ...

Alberta has a revenue problem, not a spending problem

• The Alberta government revenue system is broken, as witnessed by wildly fluctuating revenue predictions and the resulting intense pressure on public services including health care and education. It's time for a grown-up conversation about how to fix the system and ensure we have the funds to pay for vital public services. For "Which Way Will We Pay?" and more information ...

Minimum wage increases do not lead to job losses

• New Alberta Federation of Labour research shows employment in service industries actually grows after minimum wages increases, said AFL president Gil McGowan in his presentation to a government panel reviewing Alberta's minimum wage. For more, read ...

Urgent Action

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Join the rally to support workers at Calgary Stampede July 13!
Park Operations workers at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede are seeking a first contract and need your help. Join them in a rally near the Stampede ground Tuesday, July 13. For details ...

Events

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July 13, 2010 - IAMAW Rally, Calgary
Time: 9:00 a.m. - gather to hand out flyer
11:00 a.m. - rally begins
Location: Calgary Stampede Exhibition grounds, Southern LRT exit ramp, Erlton Station, 25th Avenue and Macleod Trail South

July 31, 2010 - CUPW Edmonton Sandtrap Open ([email protected])

August 9 to 13, 2010 - AFL Kids' Camp

August 29, 2010 - Big Splash Open Golf Tournament

September 6, 2010 - Edmonton District & Labour Council Labour Day Barbeque

Did you know ...

 

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The Alberta government has cut funding to the following job-training programs:

• Youth Connections 26.59%
• Career Development Services 12.68%
• Basic Skills/Academic Upgrading 16.55%
• Summer Temporary Employment 22.48%
• Workforce Partnerships 34.36%
• Aboriginal Development Partnerships 7.39%

Edmonton - Alberta is experiencing an ongoing jobs crisis, as our province shed full-time jobs while Canada, overall, saw increases in full-time employment.

In June, Alberta's unemployment rate edged up slightly, from 6.6% to 6.7%. However, the more disturbing picture is in the loss of full-time employment. Alberta dropped 9,600 full-time jobs between May and June 2010.

"Alberta is clearly still feeling the impacts of the recession - unnecessarily," says Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "Alberta was one of the only jurisdictions in the industrialized world to refuse to invest in economic stimulus. The result is we are lagging behind in recovery, especially where it counts the most, which is full-time employment," says McGowan.

"Even business leaders know our economy is still fragile," he says. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business reported this week that confidence levels among owners of Alberta's small and medium-sized business fell almost three points and said: "Unfortunately, business owners in several key sectors of Alberta's economy, including agriculture, construction and hospitality, continue to maintain the lowest levels of confidence."

Youth unemployment (15-24) remains stubbornly high at 11.7%, and aboriginal off-reserve unemployment remains at 15%, unchanged from a year ago.

In Budget 2010, the government of Alberta cut training programs by $23 million, mostly for youth and aboriginal people (see backgrounder).

Alberta's ongoing jobs crisis is further illustrated by bulging social assistance caseloads. Since 2008, social assistance caseloads have gone up by 50% (see backgrounder) to over 40,000 cases. According to the government of Alberta, the province has not seen income support caseloads this high since 1997.

"Unemployed Albertans are exhausting their EI benefits, and they have no other options. This government is creating a social crisis by going against all available economic wisdom - cutting spending when they should be investing, cutting training programs when they should be placing a premium on job growth," concludes McGowan.

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Media Contacts:
Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour, 780-218-9888

 

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Backgrounder

Alberta's Jobs, Employment Training and Social Crisis

Employment Training Programs in Alberta, 2009-2010
Source: Alberta Employment and Immigration Budget Estimates By Department, Budget 2010

Employment Program	2009 Forecast (in millions)	2010 Budget Estimates (in millions)	% Cut
Youth Connections	7.5	5.51	26.59%
Career Development Services	60.02	52.41	12.68%
Basic Skills/Academic Upgrading	27.48	22.93	16.55%
Summer Temporary Employment	9.56	7.41	22.48%
Workforce Partnerships	11.52	7.56	34.36%
Aboriginal Development Partnerships	3.68	3.41	7.39%

 

Alberta Social Assistance Caseloads, 2002-2010

Source: Alberta Office of Statistics, Income Support Caseloads, Released June 30, 2010

News of a jump in the jobless rate has the Alberta Federation of Labour calling for a provincial stimulus plan, after numbers released indicate our jobless rate went up slightly to 6.7 per cent.

AFL president Gil McGowan says the job crisis continues in Alberta and money needs to be invested to create employment opportunities.

Meanwhile, he tells 660News that critics of public spending are ignoring the building blocks of job creation and without education, infrastructure and other factors paid through the public sector, there is no modern economy.

McGowan adds that Alberta is still stuck in a recession, E.I. benefits are running out for many, leaving many people with few options.

660 news, Fri July 9 2010
By Glory Przekop and Don Cook

The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) is expressing frustration over the province's "ongoing jobs crisis" while the rest of Canada experiences increases in full-time employment.

Alberta's unemployment rate in June was 6.7%, and the province dropped 9,600 full-time jobs between May and June 2010.

"Alberta is clearly still feeling the impacts of the recession - unnecessarily," AFL president Gil McGowan said in a news release.

"Alberta was one of the only jurisdictions in the industrialized world to refuse to invest in economic stimulus.

"The result is we are lagging behind in recovery, especially where it counts the most, which is full-time employment."

AFL cited figures to illustrate the province's current labour challenges:

Youth unemployment (15-24) is at 11.7 per cent, and aboriginal off-reserve unemployment remains at 15%, unchanged from a year ago.

Social assistance caseloads have gone up by 50 per cent to over 40,000 cases, the highest level since 1997.

In Alberta's 2010 budget, the government cut training programs by $23 million.

"Even business leaders know our economy is still fragile," McGowan said, pointing to a Canadian Federation of Independent Business report that shows a three-point drop in confidence levels among owners of Alberta's small and medium-sized business.

Daily Commercial news and Construction Record, Fri July 9 2010