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Edmonton: A number of well known community, labour, academic, arts and municipal leaders have signed an open letter to Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, urging her to use her influence to end the lock-out of the 5500 employees of the CBC and to commit to provide the financial support CBC needs to fulfill its mandate.

"This open letter is a strong message from a number of Edmontonians saying that Minister McLellan has an important responsibly and the influence to bring an end to the lock-out," says Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "When you see a list of Edmontonians ranging from City Councillor Mike Nickel to the Managing Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Elaine Calder, the Minister needs to pay attention to the message."

"We feel very strongly that the lock-out of the CBC workers and support for CBC programming is an urgent public interest issue that requires political action," says Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. "Albertans need to speak out and say that it is unacceptable that the federal government has failed to end the lock-out and that they must commit to support CBC's mandate to deliver local programming."

The open letter will be published in the Edmonton Journal on Friday, September 30th and Vue Weekly. Albertans are also being asked to go to www.pialberta.org to sign-on to the letter and send an automatic e-mail to the Deputy Prime Minister and their Member of Parliament.

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For further information contact:

Bill Moore-Kilgannon
Executive Director, PIA @ (780) 420-0471

Gil McGowan
President, AFL   @ (780) 483-3021 / (780) 915-4599 (cell)

EDMONTON - The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) is calling upon Mike Cardinal, the Minister of Human Resources and Employment, to make sure that Tyson Foods, Inc, the giant American corporation that operates the Lakeside Packing plant in Brooks, respects the Dispute Inquiry Board recommendations released today.

"It was the Minister, himself, who appointed the one-person Disputes Inquiry Board," says AFL President Gil McGowan. "He chose John Moreau, a well-respected industrial relations professional, to deal with this volatile issue and write a report recommending the basis for a fair settlement."

"Mike Cardinal cannot now simply allow the company to ignore Mr. Moreau's recommendations. If the continued operation of the Lakeside plant was critical enough to the Alberta beef industry and ranchers to call a Disputes Inquiry Board to prevent a work stoppage in the first place, then it is too important to allow an American employer to hold the province's agricultural industry hostage," says McGowan.

"The beef industry in Alberta has been severely affected in recent years by both droughts and export restrictions due to mad cow disease and by the current high cost of energy. The last thing that Alberta ranchers and farmers need now is a work stoppage at the largest beef packing plant in Canada."

"I think this situation falls well within the definition of an emergency under Division 18 Section 110 (1.b) of the Labour Relations Code which would allow the Minister to impose a settlement recommended by Mr. Moreau on the two parties," says McGowan. "The procedures for imposing a settlement are also contained within Section 18 of the Code."

"The Minister has an unbiased set of recommendations from the mediator he appointed; he has a beef industry in crisis; and he has a company that has so far refused to provide a fair contract to Alberta workers. The workers, despite reservations about some of the recommendations in the report, have voted by 90% to accept it as a new collective agreement.  Now it's up to Mike Cardinal to settle this dispute. He has the power to make the mediator's report binding - all he needs now is the will to make it happen," concludes McGowan.

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For more information contact:

Gil McGowan, AFL President at 780.915-4599 (cell)

EDMONTON - The Klein government's decision to put out a call for proposals to private insurance companies interested in covering public health services is an act of "breathtaking stupidity", says Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"They're talking about making sweeping changes to our health care system and they want profit-seeking private insurance companies to chart the course," says McGowan. "This is a betrayal of the public and an abrogation of government responsibility. What do you think these insurance companies will recommend? Whose best interests will they really be looking after?"

The government request for proposals was released to the insurance industry on August 30th, but only revealed to the public today. It calls for the creation of private insurance plans to cover a wide range of services currently covered by Medicare, including prescription drugs, long-term care, supplementary health services and "non-emergency" health services.

"We know that private insurance will end up costing Albertans more for health services," says McGowan. "This will particularly hurt Alberta employers, who are going to end up paying a lot more for employee health benefits. To continue to drive down a road that leads to nowhere is an act either of stupidity or deliberate political blindness."

"Do Albertans really want what is being offered here? Instead of going to a hospital, do we really want to have to go to 'HipMart' or 'Seniors R Us'? I don't think so," concludes McGowan.

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For more information

Gil McGowan, AFL President at 780-915-4599(cell)

Will our children have the luxury of lounging by the lake? Or will they be worrying about where the next pay cheque will come from?

It's Labour Day again - and we all know what that means. It's the last weekend of summer. The last family picnic of the year. The last boat ride around the lake.

The truth is that - despite the name - "labour" is usually the last thing on people's minds as the holiday weekend approaches.

But this year it may be a little more difficult to take the "labour" out of Labour Day. That's because there are currently two major workplace disputes, involving thousands of workers, going on in the province.

As Albertans head out to the lake or the local park, there's a good chance they'll drive by at least one picket line erected by locked out Telus or CBC workers.

These disputes have focused attention on labour issues partly because they touch almost every community in the province. But more importantly, they're getting attention because they reveal a troubling workplace trend - a trend that threatens to take the bloom off Alberta's flourishing economic rose for thousands of workers and their families.

The disturbing trend that I'm talking about is the trend towards less secure employment - and it's at the heart of a growing number of labour disputes.

Despite Alberta's booming economy, low unemployment and relatively high wages, more and more people in the province are working on a temporary or contract basis. The latest figures from Statistics Canada suggest that only about half of working Albertans have jobs that can be described as long-term or stable - down significantly from previous decades.

The benefits of contract and temporary work for employers are obvious - companies save money by not having to shell out for things like pensions and other benefits. In other words, big business gets to have its cake and eat it too. This is what management types mean when they talk about "flexibility."

But the benefits of these so-called "contingent" work arrangements are more difficult to discern for individuals and communities.

Workers with little long-term job security have a much more difficult time putting down roots and making all the transitions that have traditionally characterized middle-class life in Canada. For example, it's more difficult for them to buy a home, start a family, save for their kids' education, plan for retirement or even set money aside for modest family vacations.

And it's not just individuals who are hurt by the insecurity that comes with a growing contract or temporary workforce.

Job insecurity also has negative impacts on communities, local businesses - and even the companies that make use of contract workers themselves. Who wants to "go the extra mile" for an employer that treats you like a Post-it-Note - something to be used and discarded without a second thought?

This is what the locked-out Telus and CBC workers mean when they talk about job security being their hill to die on.

They're not asking for "jobs for life" as some critics have claimed. They recognize that the economy rises and falls and that lay offs are sometimes inevitable. All they're saying is that if a company is profitable and if it has work that needs to be done, then why not make as many of those jobs permanent as possible?

Of course, the problem of insecure jobs is not restricted to Alberta - it's a phenomenon that's been sweeping the country and, indeed, the world.

But too many companies have been getting a free ride in the public and the press when they characterize traditional permanent jobs with benefits as "old style" and argue that contracting out is inevitable.

This new age management mantra wears particularly thin here in Alberta in 2005 where, thanks to our red hot economy, most firms can clearly afford to do better by their employees.

Before we let corporations like Telus and the CBC get away shedding their obligations to their workers, Albertans and Canadians need to ask: is the kind of society we really want?

Do we want a society where real careers disappear, to be replaced by a string of temporary jobs?

Do we want a society where pensions, health benefits and even vacations become a distant memory for most people?

Do we want a society were a small group of "core" employees have security, while the majority of working families watch their middle class dream slip further and further away?

That's the issue on picket lines around the province this summer - and it's the reality that we may sleepwalk into if citizens and policy makers don't start questioning the desirability of so-called contingent labour force strategies.

Maybe what's needed are stronger labour laws to level the playing field between management and labour. Or maybe we should be talking about portable pensions and benefits that can follow workers from job to job.

Finding answers won't be easy - but it's certainly a debate worth having.

If we don't start asking tough questions - and if simply continue deferring to the wisdom of Corporate Canada - then I worry that future Labour Days may look a lot different from the ones we currently enjoy. Instead of lounging by the lake, you may be spending the weekend in you cramped apartment scanning the papers for your next temporary job.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that - and let's hope that when it comes to Labour Day our children can afford to focus on water skiing and barbeques instead of worrying about where their next pay cheque might come from.

by Gil McGowan
AFL President
September 2006

CALGARY-The Alberta Federation of Labour marked the first Alberta Farm Worker Day by announcing a strategy to pressure the Alberta government to include farm workers in the basic employment protections provided to other workers.

"In Alberta, if you work on a farm, you work in an environment with almost no protections. Nothing governs the hours of work, rate of pay or working conditions. You can't refuse unsafe work, and you can't get WCB if you are hurt," says AFL President Gil McGowan. "Farm workers are denied the basic protections all other workers take for granted."

"And looking across the country, Alberta is again at the back of the pack. Alberta offers the worst level of protection for farm workers in the country," observes McGowan. "We are the only province that has not committed to including farm workers in health and safety legislation."

"We are launching a strategy that proclaims "End the Drought!" to bring basic protections to farm workers," announces McGowan. "We hope to persuade the government to follow the lead of other provinces and protect farm workers."

McGowan also notes that the government continues to ignore the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that guarantees farm workers the right to organize unions.

"Things on the farm are different today. Huge hog barns and corporate farms are replacing small family farms. Large operators employ dozens of workers. Farming has changed. So should the law," says McGowan.

"A farm worker's life is about hard work and a constant fear of getting fired or cheated. Speak out and you get blackballed," says Eric Musekamp, President of the Farmworkers Union of Alberta (FUA). "We need legal protections to make our workplaces safer and more fair."

UFCW Canada agricultural worker coordinator, Stan Raper, was also at the announcement. His union has led the fight in Ontario for farm workers. "In Ontario, our Charter challenges brought about political change. We hope it doesn't take that much in Alberta for the government to see that farm workers deserve basic legal protections, just like every other worker," says Raper.

McGowan states that the AFL intends to make protection for farm workers a key issue for the labour movement over the coming months. The first phase of the strategy includes:

• Distributing a leaflet calling on Albertans to pressure the government
• Town hall meetings in rural communities
• Lobbying Human Resources Minister Mike Cardinal
• Asking Albertans to contact their local MLA
• Highlighting the issue in upcoming legislation reviews

Future actions will be determined depending on the response from the first phase.

The FUA called for August 20 to be Alberta Farm Worker Day to highlight the conditions agricultural workers experience. August 20, 1999 was the day a Taber-area farm worker was killed by his employer for overturning a water truck into a ditch.

"The AFL will commemorate Alberta Farm Worker Day as long as the government continues to deny them the basic protections every other worker takes for granted," concludes McGowan.

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Backgrounders:

Legal protection for Farmworkers

Alberta Farmworkers Day

Farm Worker Exemptions in Alberta Legislation

Cross-Province Comparison

For more information

Gil McGowan, AFL President at 780-915-4599(cell)

or

Jason Foster, AFL Director at  780-483-3021

The Alberta Federation of Labour is demanding the government do more than simply give Canadian Midway Co a warning for employment law violations at Edmonton's Klondike Days and the Calgary Stampede.

"North American Midway, parent company of the Canadian Midway Co, has been grossly exploiting young South African workers," says AFL President Gil McGowan. "We have teenagers who have been worked 17 hours a day. They have endured terrible living conditions, and, at the end of the day, they have made less than minimum wage for their labour."

"I have news for the Alberta government - these are not "minor" violations," says McGowan. "By brushing aside the blatant mistreatment of these young workers, the government is sending the wrong message to employers everywhere in the province. I assure the government that most Albertans do not agree with the whitewash of this employer's actions."

He is particularly upset with the sly 'wink and nod' attitude of the government. "What's the point of having rules if they're not enforced? Rules without real consequences are not rules at all," says McGowan

In fact, McGowan is convinced that most employers in the province would not agree with the lack of penalties in this case. "One bad actor like this, if left unpunished, could tarnish the image of all Alberta companies," says McGowan.

"This government needs to do a 180 degree turn in its attitudes to working Albertans," concludes McGowan. "Immediately reversing this decision to do nothing would be a good place to start."

At a series of three coordinated rallies in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary Thursday evening, the Alberta Federation of Labour and the B.C. Federation of Labour unveiled the first phase of a joint, multi-union campaign aimed at putting pressure on Telus to reach a fair settlement with its locked-out workers.

"Telus may think they're taking on one union representing 13,000 workers. But they've miscalculated," said AFL president Gil McGowan at the Edmonton rally.

"Starting today, they're going to up against the full weight of the entire labour movement in two provinces. Together, we represent hundreds of thousands of members - and that means hundreds of thousands of Telus customers or potential customers."

About 1,000 people from dozens of different unions attended the rallies outside the downtown Telus towers in Edmonton and Calgary.

McGowan says the labour movement is NOT asking people to boycott Telus services - yet. Instead, union members are being asked to discontinue some of their land-line and cell phone features - like call display and voice mail. The AFL and BCFL are also asking their members to report service complaints with Telus to the federal telecommunications regulator, the CRTC.

"We want to turn up the heat on Telus. We want to send the message that customers are not happy. And we make it clear to Telus managers that there may be a serious economic price to be paid if they don't sit down and negotiate a fair contract."

McGowan says that the dispute is really about defending "family sustaining and community sustaining jobs," which he says are threatened by Telus' plans to send work overseas and rely on more contract and temporary workers at home.

"Telus makes its money here, in our towns, in our cities, from our citizens," McGowan told the rally in Edmonton. "As a result, it has an obligation to give something back by investing here and maintaining good jobs here.

"But (Telus CEO Darren) Entwhistle's contract - the one he's tried to ram down your throats - would allow him to contract out jobs, to strip benefits, to send work down to the southern United States or to the Philippines. Tonight we're here to say "no" to this kind of corporate irresponsibility. We're here to say "no way" to the Entwistle way."

The Alberta Federation of Labour represents about 120,000 workers in Alberta from 29 different unions - including unions like the United Nurses of Alberta, the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Many other unions not directly affiliated with the AFL have also pledged to support the campaign in support of locked-out Telus workers.

The B.C. Federation of Labour represents 470,000 workers from dozens of different unions in both the public and private sectors

For more information about the campaign to support locked-out Telus workers, visit the AFL website at www.afl.org.

EDMONTON-The reputation for good labour relations and excellent service earned over many years by Alberta Government Telephones, EdTel and BCTel have been poured down the drain of corporate mismanagement by Telus in a few short years, says the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, Alberta's largest labour organization.

"Telus has forgotten how to treat people. They are engaged in 'take it or leave it' negotiating - and that is bullying, not bargaining," says Gil McGowan.

"It is the arrogant unwillingness of Telus management to listen to anyone else's point of view that has alienated their onetime loyal workers and customers. You have to ask yourself why Telus is acting so irresponsibly. In the long run, negotiating fairly with your employees and treating them with respect pays dividends in terms of productivity and customer satisfaction - Telus' tactics are producing exactly the opposite."

McGowan says that the affiliated unions and members of the AFL will be supporting the Telus strikers throughout the dispute.

"We will be providing picket line and other support as requested by the Telecommunication Workers Union (TWU). "For now the TWU is asking our members to consider dropping some, but not all of their Telus services, and to cancel automatic payment provisions," says McGowan.

McGowan warns Telus that such actions must not be treated lightly.

"If we move to a full boycott of Telus goods and services, experience has shown us that many of those customers will never come back to Telus. The company needs to show some common sense at the bargaining table before irreparable damage is done," says McGowan.

EDMONTON-The Alberta government decision to delay the strike for two months at the Lakeside Packers in Brooks by calling a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB) is a step in the right direction - but may not be enough, says the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, Alberta's largest union organization.

"Tyson Foods, Inc, the American mega-corporation that owns the hugely profitable Lakeside plant, could simply use the two months during which workers are legally prohibited from striking to undermine the union and intimidate workers," says Gil McGowan. "At the end of the day, a Disputes Inquiry Board recommendation is just that - a recommendation that the employer can ignore as it chooses. This just isn't good enough. Only if the government uses the DIB recommendation as the basis for a mandatory settlement will the exercise have been worthwhile."

"The government needs to enforce a compulsory binding arbitration on the two parties to produce a fair and just settlement," says McGowan. "That would protect all of the parties involved in this dispute - the workers, the cattle producers and the beef industry. It would also recognize that it is the government's own weak and ineffective labour laws that have allowed the employer to bring things to this crisis anyway."

"Tyson resisted certification for years and years despite being repeatedly found guilty of unfair labour practices. During that time, they created a workplace that was so unbearable that there have been 100,000 workers in and out of that plant in the last decade. Lakeside has one of the highest injury rates of any industrial plant in Canada and they do not even pay the industry standard wages."

"If there was ever a workplace crying out for union protection of workers, it's the Tyson Lakeside operation. The workers desperately need a union and a collective agreement to help create a safer, healthier workplace and to secure decent wages and benefits for the hard, dangerous work they do every day."

But Alberta labour laws have stymied the workers' desire for a union, and allowed the company to run roughshod over its workers, according to McGowan. "Most provinces have first contract arbitration to prevent companies from avoiding unionization be stalling bargaining," he notes, "but Alberta laws don't have that provision nor any significant penalty for not bargaining a collective agreement. Tyson is simply doing what the Government is allowing them to do."

McGowan, who is in Brooks today, demands that the government act decisively to end this dispute. "We need immediate action to resolve this crisis - not delays. The government should act more decisively for the good of the provincial economy and to prevent further economic hardship to Alberta's beef industry."

EDMONTON-The death of a 14-year boy working with heavy equipment at the Reynolds Auto and Aircraft Museum in Wetaskiwin is a tragedy that illustrates why children should not be allowed to perform adult jobs, says the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"The provincial government opened a dangerous door last month when they said it was okay for 12 to 14 year-olds to work in restaurants," says Gil McGowan. "And then the Minister of Human Resources went further by telling the media that jobs actually help children build character. I wonder if the minister is singing the same tune today?"

The boy killed in Wetaskiwin did not have a permit to work and would not have been eligible for one even under the newly relaxed rules for child workers. But McGowan says by weakening its rules and being so openly dismissive of critics, the government has created a climate in which the safety of children has been put on the back burner.

"They've created an expectation and acceptance amongst both young people and adults, that kids can - and even should - be working," says McGowan. "It's a green light from the government - one that will likely lead to a repeat of the tragedy we've seen in Wetaskiwin."

McGowan says the government has attempted to pass off responsibility for regulating kids' involvement in the work place, saying it's up to the parents to decide. But he says that's not fair to parents.

"Young teens can seem very articulate and capable. And, as every parent knows, they can be very persuasive," says McGowan. "It's not hard to imagine a 12 or 13 year-old being able to convince his or her parents that they're ready to take a job. But at the end of the day, no matter how big, smart or tough these kids appear, they're still kids. And they need to be protected."

McGowan says that even the most mature 12 to 14 year olds lack the knowledge and experience to stand up for themselves in the workplace and recognize basic workplace hazards.

"This is not meant as a criticism of kids, but rather as an acknowledgement of reality - kids of that age are not ready to be in an adult work environment, especially if that environment includes dangers such as heavy equipment, fast fryers or cutting machines."

McGowan - who grew up on a farm and remembers pressuring his own parents for permission to work on heavy equipment at an early age - says his heart goes out to the father of the boy killed in Wetaskiwin.

"As a father of young kids, I can't even imagine the pain the family is feeling right now," he says. "But if we want to avoid this kind of thing from happening again, what we need is a strong message from the government. We need firm regulations so that when an eager youngster asks for permission to work, parents can honestly say: �You'll have to wait another few years son. It's the law.'"

With that in mind, McGowan is encouraging the government to reconsider its recent policy changes regarding kids in the workforce.

"Whether it's a machine shop or a fast-food kitchen, kids should not be working there. This tragedy is a wake-up call - one that should not be ignored."