ALF V1

EDMONTON - Yesterday's National Energy Board's (NEB) approval of Enbridge's Southern Lights pipeline highlights the need for a clear plan to keep oil sands jobs in Alberta, says the president of the province's largest union organization.

"Albertans have already heard about the Keystone and Alberta Clipper pipelines," says Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) President Gil McGowan. "They're the new pipelines that will act as bitumen superhighways taking raw bitumen - and Alberta jobs - down to upgraders and refineries in the United States."

"But bitumen doesn't flow without lubricating fluids to dilute it. That's where the Southern Lights pipeline comes in - it will bring diluents up to Alberta from the States. With our provincial government's quiet blessing, big oil companies have been building a machine to take jobs and bitumen out of the province. This pipeline will provide the lubricant that will literally set the whole process in motion."

McGowan says it's "shocking that, half-way through the provincial election campaign, Premier Stelmach has yet to announce a plan designed to promote Alberta-based value-added oil sands production."

"This is the guy who said that allowing companies to export raw bitumen without first upgrading or refining it in Alberta was like "a farmer selling off his topsoil,'" says McGowan.

"He's also the guy who gave a so-called mandate letter to his energy minister telling him to develop a strategy to promote Alberta-based upgrading and refining. But so far, all Stelmach has done is stand on the sidelines. If he continues to stand on the sidelines, pretty soon, the game is going to be over - and Albertans will be the losers."

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For more information contact:

Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.483-3021 (office) or 780.218-9888 (cell)

EDMONTON - Alberta is in the midst of an historic election campaign - and the province's largest union organization is encouraging its members to take full advantage of the moment.

"For the first time in more than 30 years, a Conservative victory is not a foregone conclusion," says Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan.

"It's at times like these that citizens can really flex their democratic muscles - and demand more from politicians. That's exactly what we're encouraging our members to do."

As part of the AFL's "Show Us the Plan" campaign, unions affiliated to the Federation will mail or hand deliver leaflets to between 120,000 and 130,000 union households across the province.

The leaflets - along with the campaign website, www.ShowUsThePlan.ca - make the case that the Stelmach Conservatives have failed to articulate a clear vision for Alberta's oil-sands-driven economy.

The campaign also shows that the Conservatives have failed to adequately address pressing problems like the rising cost of living; our province's crumbling infrastructure and over-burdened public services, and the potential for thousands of Alberta jobs to be "shipped down the pipeline" to upgraders and refineries in the United States.

"This election is pivotal for the future of our province," says McGowan. "We want our members to understand the importance of the issues and the important roll they have as voters in setting the future direction for our province."

The campaign's central leaflet reminds voters of the track records of both the Klein and Stelmach governments and concludes that political change is healthy and long overdue in Alberta.

"Albertans may look back on this election as the time they started blazing a new path for the 21st century," says McGowan. "We want to encourage our members to seize this moment and help lead the way toward a new and better Alberta."

The Show Us the Plan campaign is separate from - but complementary to - the Albertans for Change campaign that the AFL is co-sponsoring with the Alberta Building Trades Council and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

More events associated with the AFL campaign are planned over the next two and a half weeks. Details of these events will be announced in stages over the next week to ten days. Click here for the town halls scheduled for Fort McMurray (February 27th), Hinton (February 28th), Calgary (February 29th), and Edmonton (March 1st).

"It's important to note that in all of our campaign efforts, we're not trying to tell people who to vote for." says McGowan. "What we're trying to do instead is provide our members with the tools they need to cast informed ballots. We are convinced that, together, Albertans can turn up the heat on our politicians and get better government and a better future in return."

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For more information contact:

Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.483-3021 (office) or 780.218-9888 (cell)

As a week marked by massive pre-election spending draws to a close, the $1.3-billion question facing Alberta is whether the province has the manpower -- and capacity -- to complete government's ambitious construction wish list on time and on budget.

Unions and taxpayer groups worry an overheated construction market and chronic labour shortages will cause cost overruns and delays on the flurry of projects Alberta has announced recently, including schools, hospital redevelopments and roadwork.

In the past dozen days, spending announcements made by Premier Ed Stelmach's government totalled more than $1 billion, according to a Canadian Taxpayers Federation tally of the promises.

The spending comes as government estimates $245 billion worth of megaprojects are underway or slated to move ahead in Alberta over the next two years, fuelled largely by massive expansion in the oilsands.

"It's obviously a concern to us," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"(Oilsands) projects are going to require a construction workforce of more than 200,000. These public projects are just going to make it much more difficult for contractors to find the workers they need."

But Alberta's associate minister of capital planning said the government projects are part of a long-term plan, which the province also unveiled this week, and will be staged to ensure the work is manageable.

"I don't understand the negativity," said Gene Zwozdesky. "It's not all going to happen all in one day. It's a strategic plan that takes you over a period of several years."

The comments follow the Alberta government's announcement of several big-ticket capital projects in recent days, including 14 new schools, a hospital redevelopment project in Medicine Hat and $300 million to build long-term care centres around the province.

Government announcements continued Friday, with the province unveiling millions more for initiatives like upgrading supportive living units around Alberta.

The promises come in advance of an expected provincial election call next week.

But they also come at a time when Alberta faces a labour shortage and a new Calgary Economic Development forecast suggested the problems will continue in the future. The report released this week concluded 244,000 jobs, including construction positions, could be added to this city over the next decade.

In recent years, a shortage of construction workers has delayed projects, while the rising expense of materials and labour has sent costs soaring.

The south Calgary hospital, for example, was budgeted at $550 million in 2005, but growing building costs and delays in starting the project have since pushed the price tag to $1.25 billion.

Organizations such as the Alberta Construction Association said it's difficult to know whether the recently-announced provincial projects will face similar problems since the timelines around many of the initiatives have yet to be determined.

"We haven't really got a clear sense of the timetable," said Ken Gibson, executive director of the association. "It's tough to comment."

Calgary Economic Development agreed it's difficult to know whether there will be enough construction workers without knowing the project schedules.

Adam Legge, chief economist of the organization, said construction trades are still in high demand today, even though the market isn't quite as tight as it was 18 months ago.

Other groups, like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the province will inevitably pay more for its projects. Federation officials noted the government is competing for materials and labour in a hot construction environment, with Suncor Energy announcing a giant $20-billion oilsands expansion Wednesday.

"The manner they're going about this is going to create as many problems as it will solve," said Scott Hennig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Hennig argued a glut of government capital spending, which he said has grown from $1 billion annually in 2002 to $7 billion in the 2007-08 budget, is further inflating construction prices.

Frank Atkins, a University of Calgary economist, said he doubted the government projects would have a big impact on labour and materials, noting the initiatives are small compared with the massive Alberta construction market as a whole.

"It's small potatoes," he said.

Calgary Herald, Sat Feb 2 2008
Byline: Michelle Lang

Labour Economic Monitor (February 2008)

These are turbulent times in the economic world, and tumbling stock markets are just a symptom of a much greater malaise. The so-called "sub-prime mortgage crisis" (which actually has more to do with the proliferation of financial derivatives than with a few bad mortgages) remains a threat to financial institutions around the world, and no one knows exactly how large the problem is, or where the risks lie. Derivatives and similar financial instruments do two things very well: they transfer risk and they can create leverage, spinning large amounts of paper wealth based on a relatively modest foundation of real assets. When they are abused, and in a deregulated financial system they are bound to be abused, this means that instruments initially designed to reduce financial risk by allowing "hedging," instead end up multiplying risk and generating economic volatility.

Background

Recent changes at the Local Authorities Pension Plan have put at risk the pension benefits of 125,000 Alberta municipal, health care and education workers - including rights to early retirement, cost of living allowances and workers' ability to retire when their age and years of service add up to 85.

On November 15, 2007 the provincial Government arbitrarily changed the decision making rules at the Board of the Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP).

The new rules break a long-standing agreement which required union approval for all significant changes to the policies or governance of the Plan - opening the door for decisions which are against the interests of working people.

The old rules, established after unions agreed to help bail out the plan's unfunded liability in the early 1990's, required a two-thirds majority and a quorum of eight members of the board, which had to include four employer representatives and four employee representatives. Now only a simple majority is required and there need not be a single labour representative present.

Ironically, the new rules were passed using the requirements of the new rules rather than those of the existing rules.

The Labour Coalition on Pensions has purchased full-page advertisements which will appear January 22^nd in Alberta daily newspapers. These ads call on members and pensioners to telephone their MLAs and Premier Ed Stelmach to overturn the changes. The coalition has registered a website - www.savemypension.ca - where detailed information on the situation is available.

The Coalition also commenced legal action to overturn the changes in governance rules for the LAPP Board on December 19, 2007.

The coalition is made up of the Alberta Federation of Labour, the Alberta Colleges and Institutes Faculty Association, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Health Sciences Association of Alberta and United Nurses of Alberta. It represents approximately 125,000 members of the $15-billion LAPP.

AFL's Position

With a spring election imminent, now is the time to put pressure on the government to reverse this blatantly anti- worker anti-labour decision before any real damage is done to pensions. If union activists can put just a little extra pressure on Ed Stelmach and the government over the next few weeks, we may be able to force the government to act.

We are asking each Local to get its core of union activists to phone Premier Ed Stelmach and their own MLA (Alberta MLAs) over the next few weeks. (To find out who your MLA is, go to http://alberta.ca/home/mla_contacts.cfm.) Tell them to restore the requirement for labour approval for decisions at the LAPP Board.

Please let the Federation know what the response was like if you phone the Premier and your MLA.

Check out website at www.savemypension.ca for more information about the campaign, and for MLA contact information.

Read more

Labour Coalition on Pensions

c/o 10802 - 172 Street, Edmonton, AB T5S 2T3

Ph: 780-483-3021 Fax: 780-484-5928

A coalition of Alberta unions says recent changes in the rules governing activities of the board of the Alberta Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP) put at risk pension rights of 125,000 Albertans - including rights to early retirement, cost of living allowances and workers' ability to retire when their age and years of service add up to 85.

The Labour Coalition on Pensions has purchased full-page advertisements in Alberta daily newspapers today calling on members and pensioners to telephone their MLAs and Premier Ed Stelmach to overturn the changes. The coalition has registered a website - www.savemypension.ca - where detailed information on the situation is available.

The Coalition also commenced legal action to overturn the changes in governance rules for the LAPP Board on December 19, 2007.

"While our legal action continues, we believe this is fundamentally a political problem that can be solved quickly by the Premier and cabinet," the Coalition said today in a statement.

At issue is a new employer-dominated system of governance brought in despite union opposition at a November 15, 2007 meeting of the LAPP Board.

The coalition says the new rules break a long-standing agreement which required union approval for all significant changes to the policies or governance of the Plan - opening the door for decisions which are against the interests of working people.

The old rules, established when employers and unions bailed out the plan's unfunded liability in the early 1990's, required a two-thirds majority and a quorum of eight members of the board, which had to include four employer representatives and four employee representatives. Now only a simple majority is required and there need not be a single labour representatives present.

The new rules were passed surreptitiously using the requirements of the new rules rather than those of the existing rules.

"We urge all public service pension plan members and retirees to contact the government and demand that this decision be reversed," the Coalition members said. "Existing early retirement provisions, COLA provisions and the '85 factor' are all at risk because of this change," the unions said.

The coalition is made up of the Alberta Federation of Labour, the Alberta Colleges and Institutes Faculty Association, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Health Sciences Association of Alberta and United Nurses of Alberta. It represents approximately 125,000 members of the $15-billion LAPP.

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For more information, contact:

Elisabeth Ballermann, President, Health Sciences Association of Alberta, 780-488-0168

Doug Knight, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-265-6655 (cellular phone)

D'Arcy Lanovaz, President, CUPE Alberta Division, 403-861-5235

Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour, 780-483-3021

Heather Smith, President, United Nurses of Alberta, 780-425-0125

EDMONTON - A coalition of important Alberta unions and the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) will commence legal action today to overturn recent changes in the rules governing activities of the board of the Alberta Local Authorities Pension Plan.

An originating notice of motion will be filed in the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench by the AFL and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Health Sciences Association of Alberta and United Nurses of Alberta.

The unions are members of the Labour Coalition on Pensions, representing approximately 125,000 members of the LAPP, which at $15-billion is Alberta's largest pension plan. The Amalgamated Transit Union and the Alberta Colleges and Institutes Faculties Association are also members of the coalition. AUPE is a part of the coalition but not a member of the AFL.

The coalition objects to a change introduced suddenly at the LAPP Board's Nov. 15, 2007, regular meeting that, if allowed to proceed, would break a long-standing agreement and deprive unions of a veto over decisions negatively affecting their members and retirees.

"This is an extremely serious matter of grave concern to our members," the coalition said in a joint statement.

Under rules properly adopted in 1994, the 14-member LAPP Board required a two-thirds majority to pass a motion. In addition, under those rules, a quorum was defined as eight members of the board, including four employer representatives and four employee representatives.

The 1994 rules were based on an understanding among the Government of Alberta, employers and unions that stemmed from pension reforms in 1991 and 1992.

Through the understanding, employees agreed to help pay for the LAPP's unfunded liability in return for an independent pension plan and joint governance, neither of which have been truly implemented. However, the rules governing the conduct of the board gave unions representing LAPP members a way to stop measures that would hurt their members or retirees.

Other properly constituted boards of Alberta agencies operate under rules similar to the old rules of the LAPP Board.

On November 15th, however, the LAPP Board adopted two changes based on an argument presented by their legal advisor. Under these changes, quorum would now be defined as 50 per cent of the members of the board and motions would be passed by a vote of 50 per cent plus one.

The unions dispute the arguments of the LAPP's legal advisor and object to the new rules.

The changes were passed by the board using the new rules as interpreted by the LAPP's lawyer.

The union action being filed today argues that the changes constitute a breach of the understanding stemming from the 1991-92 pension reforms and improperly take away the unions' agreed-upon ability to protect their members' interests.

In addition, the action argues that the board lawyer's opinion is in error and that the action of the board, based on that opinion, is improper and must be overturned.

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For more information contact:

Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.483-3021 (office) or 780.218-9888 (cell)

Carl Soderstrom, Director of Labour Relations, AUPE @ 780.930-3340 (office) or 780.719-7404 (cell)

Edmonton - The Alberta Federation of Labour reacted with guarded optimism to the Government's new measures announced today to protect temporary foreign workers.

The two special advisory offices for temporary foreign workers are a welcome - if long overdue - measure," says AFL President Gil McGowan. "The AFL had set up its own temporary foreign workers' advocate office last spring as a result of seeing a desperate need for such a measure."

McGowan also lauded the new investigative role assigned to the eight Employment Standards Officers assigned to investigate complaints by temporary foreign workers and to launch investigations and inspections on their own initiative. "We know from our own experience that many temporary foreign workers are either unaware of their rights or simply afraid to pursue those rights because of fears they will be sent home."

The real problem labour has with the new initiative is that it doesn't deal with the underlying issues surrounding the use of temporary foreign workers. "We are using these workers as disposable commodities to deal with very real inadequacies in our workplace training system and problems with our immigration system," says McGowan. "We are letting employers and government off the hook for failures of the system to train adequate number of workers with required skills and to pay wages and benefits sufficient to attract and retain Canadian workers," says McGowan.

Labour has also been very consistent in its opposition to the temporary foreign worker program, according to McGowan. "We say if these people are good enough to work here, they are good enough to be eligible for Canadian citizenship. The whole rent-a-worker aspect of the program is unacceptable."

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For more information contact:

Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.483-3021 (office) 780.218-9888 (cell)

Yessy Byl, TFW Advocate @ 780.720-8481 (cell)

Media Availability

2:30 p.m., Salon A, Chateau Lacombe Crowne Plaza (10111 Bellamy Hill)

(Copies of the report are available this morning at www.afl.org)

EDMONTON-The Alberta Federation of Labour today released the 6-month report of the Temporary Foreign Worker Advocate project, launched this past April. The report outlines the activities of the Advocate, highlights the most common problems with the program and offers 21 specific recommendations to both provincial and federal governments to fix the program.

The report (click here) is available at www.afl.org immediately. AFL President Gil McGowan will accompany Yessy Byl, the TFW Advocate, at a media availability at 2.30 this afternoon to discuss the report.

"After six months of helping foreign workers, I can only conclude that there are deep and troubling flaws in the foreign worker program," says Yessy Byl, the Advocate. "The rapid expansion of the program in the past two years has been an unqualified disaster."

"When we launched the Advocate project, we knew there was exploitation going on, but we didn't realize just how widespread it is," says McGowan. "Alberta has created a disposable workforce."

In six months, Byl took more than 1,400 phone calls and opened files for 123 temporary foreign workers (TFWs). She also offered presentations to hundreds of Albertans to educate them about the program. "The demand has been overwhelming. Clearly there are thousands of foreign workers needing help and have nowhere to turn," observes Byl.

A number of problems experienced by foreign workers have re-occurred frequently, Byl reports. For example, 89 of the 123 cases reported problems with a "labour broker" - being forced to pay illegal fees to brokers or brokers making misleading promises to lure them to Canada. Some other of the more common concerns are:

* Substandard wages and working conditions;
* Jobs disappearing without notice;
* Excessive rents charged by employers for substandard housing;
* Lack of enforcement of basic employment protections; and
* Long wait times for work permits.

The report has one key recommendation - calling for the program to be scaled back to its original intent and the immigration system reformed to allow more permanent immigration of these workers. Realizing this is an ambitious recommendation, the Advocate also makes 20 other recommendations aimed at improving the living and working conditions for TFWs. These include:

• Remove employer names from work permits to allow TFWs to switch jobs;
• allow TFWs to apply for permanent immigration status without employer-sponsorship;
• Active enforcement by the province to ensure employment standards are being met;
• Stronger provisions prohibiting broker fees to TFWs with stiff penalties for contravention;
• Limits on rents and minimum housing standards;
• Create an arm's-length provincial TFW Advocate funded by the government to assist TFWs free-of-charge with complaints and concerns.

"The evidence is now conclusive - the TFW program is a mess and thousands of foreign workers are paying the price for it. The federal and provincial governments must act now. There is no more excuse for waiting," concludes McGowan.

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.483-3021 (office)780.218-9888 (cell)

Yessy Byl, TFW Advocate @ 780.720-8481 (cell)

CALGARY-The proposed Alberta Clipper Pipeline is expected to create only two full-time permanent jobs in the province, admitted Enbridge Pipeline's executive under cross examination in front of the National Energy Board (NEB) yesterday.

The admission came as part of a regulatory hearing into Enbridge's application to build the controversial mega-pipeline that would have the capacity to transport more than 600,000 barrels of oil each day from Alberta to refineries and upgraders in the United States.

The NEB is required by law to only grant approval to projects that can be demonstrated to be in the "public interest of Canadians." Enbridge executives argued that by creating several hundred temporary construction jobs and two permanent operating jobs, the Alberta Clipper project passes the public interest test.

Alberta Federation of Labour lawyer Leanne Chahley asked the pipeline executives if it would be possible to estimate the job impact the pipeline might have on the creation of upgrader and refinery jobs in both Alberta and the U.S. The executives replied that it was theoretically possible, but they said the NEB had not required them to do such studies.

"This is the really frustrating part of this whole process," said AFL President Gil McGowan who has been attending the regulatory hearings in Calgary yesterday and today.

"Whether it was during the hearings on the Keystone Pipeline last summer or the Alberta Clipper Pipeline today, everyone agrees that it's possible to estimate the impact on Alberta jobs if new pipelines are built to ship unrefined bitumen to the U.S. - but no one is doing it. The pipeline companies aren't doing the research, the NEB isn't doing the research and the Alberta government isn't doing the research. How, in good conscience, can we possibly approve these pipelines before we can be sure that we are not exporting thousands of jobs along with our oil?"

The AFL's position is that the Alberta Clipper's application should be rejected or at least put on hold until proper studies of potential Alberta job impacts can be conducted and an "Alberta First" upgrading policy can be put in place.

"A medium-sized upgrader employs about 500 people and a big upgrading operation like Suncor employs thousands - not to mention the thousands of spin-off jobs and contract maintenance job," says McGowan. "I don't know about you, but I'll take thousands of jobs over two jobs any day."

The AFL will continue its cross examination of company and industry witnesses today - including a cross examination of Greg Stringham, the prominent and outspoken Vice President of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

The hearings resume this morning at 8:30 a.m. and will continue until 1:30 p.m. The AFL's cross examination of witnesses will take place in the NEB's main hearing room, on the second floor, 444 - 7 Avenue S.W., Calgary. McGowan will be available to speak to reporters upon adjournment.

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.218-9888 (cell)