Labour and Communities: Organizing for Change (2003)
Labour and Communities: Organizing for Change (May 2003)
Policy paper adopted by 2003 AFL Convention
Don't be fooled by Tory spin on Bill 27
The Tories say the Bill is little more than housekeeping - that it's simply designed to streamline administration as the province moves from 17 regional health authorities to seven.
Most mainstream media sources have bought into this version of the story. Fewer complicated union contracts? Less red tape? Great! But the reality of Bill 27 is much more sinister than the fairy tale being told by the government. Just consider what Bill 27 actually does:
- It discards in one stroke dozens of freely-negotiated contracts covering thousands of health care workers.
- It transforms the Labour Relations Board from and impartial "referee" in labour matters into an instrument for imposing inferior agreements.
- And, it opens for door for sweeping changes to the wages and working conditions of all Alberta health care workers.
Looking at the details of Bill 27, it becomes clear that this isn't really about streamlining" or reducing red tape - it's about tearing up agreements, weakening unions and trying to squeeze more out of health care workers for less.
Some Albertans might shrug and say "So what? Why should I care about what happens to health care workers and their contracts?"
Two responses to these questions come to mind. First, all Albertans should be concerned whenever the government uses its legislative power to bully its citizens and renege on agreements.
How would business people who supply services to the government feel if the provincial cabinet suddenly tore up contracts with them and said "we're going to pay you less"? That's exactly what's happening to health care workers under Bill 27.
Second, and more importantly, Albertans should be concerned and angry about Bill 27 because of the impact it will almost certainly have on patient care.
For years now, the Klein government has been chipping away at the foundations of our health care system. Budget cuts, staff shortages, privatization - we're all familiar with the what's been going on.
Through it all, the only thing that has kept the system together is the hard-work and dedication of health care workers. They've gone the extra mile - and stretched themselves thin - to maintain high quality care.
And now, what are these workers going to get in return for their commitment? Lower wages. Longer hours. Fewer full-time jobs. More night shifts. Reduced benefits. Less time with their families.
If the government thinks that attacking health care workers will somehow improve the health system, they are sadly mistaken. Sure, they may save a few dollars. But gutting contracts will also lead to lower morale, higher turn-over, and reduced capacity to attract and retain skilled workers.
Unfortunately, it seems that what we have here is a wealthy (and mean-spirited) government that wants to get health care on the cheap - and they plan to do it by putting the screws to people on the front lines.
We think our health care workers deserve better. So do Alberta patients.
Gil McGowan, AFL Executive Staff
May 2003
AFL convention continues in Calgary
CALGARY - Union leaders and activists from across the province will put together an action plan for dealing with the Klein government's controversial new labour law - Bill 27 - when they resume meeting at the AFL convention in Calgary tomorrow.
"Bill 27 represents one of the most serious attacks on basic workplace rights that we've ever seen in this province," says AFL president Les Steel.
"Fighting the Bill and protecting the rights of workers in the health care sector has now become one of our main priorities."
Debate on an emergency resolution on Bill 27 will begin at about 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, Friday, May 2. The AFL convention is being held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Calgary (320 - 4th Ave. S.W.)
Other highlights from tomorrow's convention agenda include the following:
11:00 a.m. - Policy Paper: Organizing for Change (Building coalitions and a "culture of dissent" in Alberta)
1:30 p.m. - Guest Speaker: Raj Pannu, Leader, AB New Democrats
3:00 p.m. - "Greetings from Ralph Klein" (political satire)
3:15 p.m. - Emergency debate on Bill 27
Reporters interested in attending the AFL convention are asked to report to the Lake Louise Room (Conference Level) for media credentials and press kits. The convention itself is being held in the Westin's main ballroom. The AFL is Alberta's largest labour organization with more than 105,000 members. AFL conventions are held every second year.
For more information call: Gil McGowan, AFL Communications @ (780) 910-1137
AFL Convention in Calgary
CALGARY - Union leaders and activists from across the province will gather in Calgary this week to take part in the biennial convention of the Alberta Federation of Labour. The convention will be held at the Westin Hotel (320 - 4th Ave S.W.) over four days, starting tomorrow and wrapping up on Sunday afternoon.
During the convention, delegates from more than 30 unions will debate resolutions and policies papers on a wide range of issues. Topics to be addressed will include everything from the workplace fallout of Canada's softwood lumber dispute with the United States to opposition to the Klein government's controversial new labour law, Bill 27.
"We are currently at a crucial moment in the history of labour relations in this province," says AFL president Les Steel.
"With Bill 27, the government is laying the groundwork for a major assault on workplace rights - an assault that will almost certainly spread beyond the health care sector. At this convention, we will be developing strategies to beat back that assault and protect the interests of working Albertans."
Highlights of tomorrow's convention agenda (Thursday, May 1) include the following:
10:30 a.m. - President's Address: AFL President Les Steel
1:45 p.m. - Keynote Address: Paul Bigman, Jobs With Justice Campaign
3:00 p.m. - Emergency Debate: Alberta's latest push for workplace drug testing
3:30 p.m. - Lessons from B.C.'s fight against cuts and privatization:
B.C Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair
4:00 p.m. - Emergency Debate: Privatization of Alberta's water resources
5:00 p.m. - May Day March (from Eau Claire - by the "Y" - organized by CDLC)
Reporters interested in attending the AFL convention are asked to report to the Lake Louise Room (Conference Level) for media credentials and press kits. The convention itself is being held in the Westin's main ballroom. The AFL is Alberta's largest labour organization with more than 105,000 members. AFL conventions are held every second year.
For more information call: Gil McGowan, AFL Communications @ (780) 910-1137
Attachment: AFL Convention Agenda
AFL 43rd Constitutional Convention
May 1 - 4, 2003
AGENDA
THURSDAY, MAY 1
10:00 am Opening Session
10:30 am President's Address
11:00 am Executive Council Report
12:00 pm Lunch
1:30 pm Presentation of the May Day Solidarity Award
1:45 pm Key Note Speaker - Paul Bigman, "Jobs With Justice"
2:45 pm Health & Safety Committee Report & Resolutions
3:30 pm Greetings from Jim Sinclair, President, BC Federation of Labour
3:45 pm Environment Committee Report & Resolutions
4:30 pm Adjournment
5:00 pm May Day March
FRIDAY, MAY 2
9:00 am Credentials Committee Report
Alberta Labour History Institute
9:30 am Guest Speaker - Leo Gerard, International President, USWA
10:00 am Education Committee Report & Resolutions
10:45 am Alberta Workers Health Centre Report
11:00 am Policy Paper - "Labour and Communities: Organizing for Change"
12:00 Noon Lunch
1:30 pm Greetings from Raj Pannu, Leader of the AB New Democrats
2:00 pm Model Labour Code - Martin D'Entremont
3:00 pm Political Action Committee Report & Resolutions
3:45 pm Constitutional Resolutions
5:00 pm Adjournment
SATURDAY, MAY 3
9:00 am Credentials Committee Report
Women's Committee Report & Resolutions
10:00 am Aspen Foundation
Canadian Association of Union Services (CAUS)
Public Interest Network
Kids Camp
11:00 am Policy Paper - "The Promise and Problem of Young Workers & Unions"
12:00 Noon Lunch
1:30 pm Guest Speaker - Deborah Bourque, President, CUPW
2:00 pm Human Rights Committee Report & Resolutions
2:45pm Policy Paper - "Migrant Agricultural Workers in Alberta"
4:00 pm Candidates Forum
4:30 pm Adjournment
SUNDAY, MAY 4
9:00 am General - Emergency Resolutions
10:00 am Guest Speaker - Ken Georgetti, President, CLC
10:30 am General - Emergency Resolutions
11:00 am Credentials Committee Final Report
Election of Officers & Executive Council
12:00 Noon Closing Ceremonies
12:30 pm Adjournment
1:00 pm Executive Council Meeting
Day of Mourning Commemorates Workers Killed and Injured at Work
Today, workers in Alberta will mark the 8th Annual International Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job. Remembrances will take place at workplaces and at special ceremonies around the province.
"For the sixth year in a row, Alberta workplaces have claimed the lives of over 100 workers," says Les Steel, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "And that number counts only deaths accepted by the Workers' Compensation Board. The actual number is many times greater."
Last year, according to official statistics, 101 workers lost their lives at work and over 155,000 more were injured.
"Two deaths a week shows that in this province, work is hazardous to your health," says Steel. "The Day of Mourning is important not only to remember those who have lost their lives or health at work, but to commit to take action to end this scourge," he adds. "Every single workplace death is preventable."
Steel adds that unions in Canada are currently pressing the federal government to introduce legislation which will hold corporations and managers personally liable for negligence which leads to a fatality.
"We need legislation which clearly says to those who put profits before human life, that we don't consider workplace fatalities an accident, we consider it a crime," says Steel.
The Day of Mourning was started by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1984 and was officially recognized federally in 1991. It has since grown to become an international event, commemorated in over 70 countries worldwide.
The Alberta Federation of Labour is holding a commemorative ceremony to mark the day:
Monday, April 28 - 7:00 pm at City Hall
The event is a mix of cultural performances, speakers, and a candle lighting to commemorate the Day of Mourning. Strong visual images are an important part of the ceremony. City Councillor Dave Thiele will present the official proclamation on behalf of the City of Edmonton.
For further information contact:
Les Steel, President 780-499-4135 (cell)
Scott Harris, Executive Director 780-483-3021 (work)
The Other Competitive Advantage
The Other Competitive Advantage
But the question needs to be asked whether public health care, public education and income security are also competitive advantages, for both employers and workers.
2003 April Speech Alberta CUPE Convention
Les Steel, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour, April 2003
As trade unionists we are currently living through a period that can best be described as schizophrenic.
It's a time of big challenges - some of the most serious we've ever faced. But, on the other hand, I believe it's also a time of new hope and new opportunities.
This afternoon, I'd like to start with the positives & and so I'll make a positive statement.
I'm convinced that we're starting to see the first tell-tale signs that the long winter of knee-jerk, business-first politics that has dominated our country since the days of Brian Mulroney may finally be coming to an end.
This may seem like a surprising claim to make - especially here in Alberta. And especially considering all the talk we've been hearing lately from our provincial government about taking away the right to strike from health care workers, imposing agreements and fining unions millions of dollars.
There is no doubt that, in the halls of power, things are as bad as they've ever been - maybe worse.
But on the ground - in communities, in homes, in coffee shops - attitudes are changing.
After Enron and Worldcom and all the other corporate scandals that have come to light over the past year, people are no longer so willing to put blind faith in the business community
Ordinary Canadians are also becoming more and more skeptical of the corporate agenda that our governments have been pursuing for the past fifteen years.
Yes, our leaders are still talking about budget cuts, privatization, wage roll-backs, down-sizing, trade deals and tax cuts for the well-off. And, yes, here in Alberta, the government seems to be rev-ing up for a war on unions.
But poll after poll tells us that ordinary Canadians are on a different page.
Joe and Jane Canadian no longer agree with the National Post and the Fraser Institute that cutting the debt and cutting taxes are the big issues. And they don't agree with the Ralph Klein's of the world who argue that unions are the root of all evil.
What people are really concerned about are things that affect their pocketbook; things that affect their communities; and things that affect their families.
In fact, Canadians are now starting to focus on many of the things that we in the labour movement have been talking about for years: things like health care; education; jobs; and the environment.
Recent polls have also shown some interesting shifts in the political landscape.
A few years ago the Reform party and then the Canadian Alliance were driving the agenda in this country. They weren't in government, but for most of the 90s they succeeded in moving the political centre of gravity in this country far to the right.
But today, according to the latest EKOS poll, the Alliance has slipped to 10 percent of popular support - down from more than 25 percent less than a year ago.
At the same time, the NDP has jumped to nearly 18 percent - from just nine percent during the last election.
Even here in Alberta - where we've basically had one-party rule for more than six decades - support for the Conservative party has notched down slightly for the first time in years.
By themselves, none of these signs can be described as revolutionary. But taken together, the signs suggest that something is going on - something is changing under the surface.
It's like the first warm day after a long winter. The snow still covers everything - but there is a steady "drip, drip, drip" that tells us that things are going to change - that the snow will be gone soon - and that the cold will soon be replaced by something more hospitable.
For those of us in the labour movement who have endured nearly twenty years of anti-union, neo-conservative winter - a spring thaw would certainly be welcome.
And that's exactly what seems to be happening. The pendulum is swinging. And this time it looks like it's swinging with us - not into us.
That's the good news. But as I said off the top, the world we in live today is not all roses.
On the negative side of the ledger, we face a number of serious challenges - some more frightening and more dangerous for our members than anything we've ever faced before.
How bad is it? To be honest, there's a whole shopping list of concerns.
Here in Alberta, the latest attack on workers and workers rights comes in the form of Bill 27 - a bill to amend the Alberta Labour Code.
We've all been talking about this Bill - but it's important to be clear about what is being proposed:
Bill 27 strips the right to strike from thousands of people working in community health care. It attacks the right of ALL health care workers to choose their own union. It denies workers access to severance pay-outs if their jobs are contracted out. It removes decision-making power from impartial tribunals like the Labour Relations Board and hand it over to the provincial cabinet And it sets up a process that will almost certainly give regional health authorities the power to impose inferior agreements on health care workers. From our perspective at the AFL, Bill 27 is just the first shot in what may turn into a war on workers waged by the Alberta government against unions in this province.
Within the next few months, we expect that teachers will also be targeted.
In an effort to weaken the ATA, this government will introduce a new law splitting ATA's union and professional functions.
And then there will be a law taking away their right to strike.
The government will use the same excuses they're using now with health care workers. They'll say that it's about protecting the public. They'll say it's about maintaining essential services.
But we all know what this is really all about. It's about power. It's about control. And it's about slapping down and punishing groups who dare to stand up for themselves.
The truth is that, in many ways, unions are the real opposition in this province.
The nurses stood up and won 22 percent for their members. The teachers stood up and won 14 percent. And it was CUPE and the hospital workers in Calgary who stood up seven years ago and stopped the Klein government from implementing the last of its planned cuts in health care.
Aside from labour, no other group in this province has dared to defy the Tories. No other group has gone toe-to-toe with them. And no other group has made them blink.
That's why unions are being targeted in Bill 27. And it's why we're all in for a fight over the next year.
We at the AFL will be working with affiliates and labour councils to help coordinate the fightback. In fact, the AFL and seven unions representing health care workers have already launched an international challenge of Bill 27 under NAFTA.
We're also considering legal action in the courts here in Alberta. And we're working on a protocol that will see all of our union work together in fighting this backward piece of legislation.
The government may think they can ram this law through under the cover of the war in Iraq. They may think they can ram it through without public scrutiny and without public protest.
But today I have a message for them. We will not go quietly. We will not roll over. And will not stand idly by while the rights of our members are trampled!
I wish I could say that the bad news for workers in this province stops with Bill 27. But it doesn't.
Here in Alberta, we have a government that is literally floating on money - but they still won't spend it on our schools or on other services that really matter to people.
Instead, they want to hand our tax dollars over to investors in the private-sector by increasing the number of so-called public-private-partnerships. The record on P3s is clear - wherever they've been tried, they've failed. But this government is ignoring the evidence and they're pushing forward - even though they know P3s will cost more, delivery less and put good jobs at risk.
P3s and Bill 27 are just two items on the list of challenges we're facing.
I could add more: like a war in the Middle East that almost nobody in this world wants; like a federal government that likes to portray itself as progressive, but which has cut services to a level we haven't seen since the '50s; or like the threat posed to working people by ill-conceived international trade agreements.
The list goes on - but the point is: we have our work cut out for us.
The irony in all this is that - just as the public seems to be getting tired of the right-wing crowd - conservative governments here Alberta and across the country seem to be getting bolder. And they're getting meaner.
The big question now is how do we respond to the challenges I've just talked about - and how do we capitalize on the opportunities that come with a more progressive shift in public opinion?
One option would be to do nothing - or to do the same things we've always done.
Maybe if we simply sit tight and wait, the pendulum will swing back our way.
But then again - if all we do is wait, the pendulum may not swing at all; or it might not swing as far as we'd like it to; or might swing right past us.
As you might have guessed, we at the AFL have come to the conclusion that the labour movement has to take a more active approach.
That's one of the reasons I'm so pleased to speak at gatherings like this one. We want to spread the gospel of activism - and we want to share our ideas and experiences about what we think will work to make the labour movement stronger.
For us, it all starts with a clear vision of the role of unions.
We firmly believe that the labour movement is one of the few institutions in society that is big enough and strong enough to stand up to the corporate and political powers-that-be.
We also believe that the labour movement has an obligation to use its size, its power and its resources to not only help our own members - but also to go to bat for families, for the unorganized and for the broader communities in which we all live.
When it comes specific solutions and strategies, we don't pretend to have all the answers. But over the past seven or eight years, all of us in the Alberta labour movement have been kicked around a lot.
In the process, we've suffered a few defeats; we've enjoyed a few victories - and we've learned quite a few lessons.
Before I wrap up this afternoon, I just want to touch on the three of the most important lessons I think we've learned - lessons that we can all learn from.
First - we've learned that we can't do it alone.
Whether we're talking about an individual strike or a province-wide campaign against cutbacks, we've learned that we get better results when we have allies - especially allies from outside the labour movement.
About a year ago, Ipso-Reid released a poll that helped illustrate why building coalitions is so important.
Basically, the survey asked Canadians to rate different groups in terms of trust. Not surprisingly, politicians were at the bottom of the barrel. But union spokespeople and union leaders weren't far behind.
We may not like to admit it - but unions have a serious image problem - and a serious credibility problem. Too often we're dismissed as self-interested and out to feather our own nests.
That's why we at the AFL have made a point of building coalitions with organizations outside the labour movement - organizations that share our concerns and our priorities.
Community groups, seniors groups, student groups, religious groups, women's groups, environmental groups, health care advocacy groups, immigrant groups, anti-poverty advocates, progressive academics.
You name it - we need to forge ties and build bridges with all these groups.
And it's not just a crass attempt to steal their credibility. It's about sharing resources, sharing people power, sharing networks, sharing ideas - and working together for change.
The second lesson we've learned is that we have to do a better job of cooperating within the labour movement itself. Too often, we get trapped in silos. We keep our heads down and do our work with our own members. But the result is that we end up not seeing the forest for the trees. We also often end up recreating the wheel.
Our experience fighting Bill 11 three years ago proved this point.
The Fed could have gone off and organized its own campaign. The nurses' and CUPE and the health sciences association could each have gone off in their own directions.
But instead, we worked together as part of a broader coalition - the Friends of Medicare coalition.
The result was that, by pooling our money and our people, we were able to run a bigger, smarter and more effective campaign than we ever would have been able to pull off individually.
Over the past year, we've started to apply this logic to organizing the unorganized. In partnership with the two other prairie provinces, we're talking about establishing a central organizing school. We're even talking about joint organizing drives. So instead of competing with each other, instead of working against each other - we're working together.
That's what we mean when we talk about cooperation between unions. We think solidarity should be more than a word we sing in a song every few years at conventions.
The third and final lesson that I'd like to highlight today is that we need to get over the fear of trying new things.
When the Alberta government first started slashing in 1993, we did all the usual things. We wrote leaflets that almost no one read. We organized a few rallies that only a few hundred people attended. We sent out a few harshly worded press releases. We even circulated a petition and started a postcard campaign.
The problem was that we did exactly what Ralph Klein expected us to do - and he didn't give a crap. As long it was just the usual suspects on the Legislature steps he knew he could get away with ignoring us.
The good news is that we've finally snapped out of it. We're starting to do things more creatively and more professionally.
We've borrowed from the corporate world by using TV ads, polling and direct mail campaigns.
We've borrowed from Hollywood by rounding up real life stories of people to tell their stories to the media.
And just last month, we went back to old-style person-to-person organizing.
Through the Friends of Medicare coalition, we canvassed more than 20,000 people in Federal Health Minister Anne McLellan's Edmonton riding - and we got more than five thousand of them to sign a card saying they might not vote for her in the next election if she doesn't do something to stop for-profit delivery of health services.
The point of all this is not to illustrate how brilliant we are at the AFL. If we were really that brilliant, we wouldn't still be dealing with Ralph as Premier three elections later.
What I am trying to say is that unions can make change - even in the most inhospitable climates. We can make gains for our members and we can defend and even advance our broader social agenda.
We can do all these things by building bridges to other groups. We can do it by working together within the labour movement. And we can do it by trying new things, by working better and working smarter.
In the end, I'm convinced that we can benefit from the spring thaw that is driving Canadians away from the business-first crowd. And I'm convinced that we can beat back the attacks that are threatening our unions and our members.
The pendulum is swinging our way. If we're prepared, if we're smart, if we're creative I know we can grab on make some real headway on the issue that matter most to all of us.
As usual, CUPE will be at the forefront of all our efforts. I look forward to working with you and standing together with you in our fight to build a better Alberta.
Good luck in your deliberations. Solidarity!
New regulations set the stage for attack on health care workers rights, contracts
EDMONTON - The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) is responding angrily to regulations released yesterday that flesh-out the provincial government's controversial new labour law, Bill 27.
The regulations "trample on the rights of health care workers and remove all pretence that the government is an impartial third party when it comes to labour relations in this province," says AFL President Les Steel.
"With these new rules, the government has regulated away the right of workers to have the union of their choice," he says. "It has regulated out of existence freely-negotiated legal contracts. It strips the democratic right-to-strike from community health workers without a shred of justification. And, it is forcing unions to reorganize into dysfunctional bargaining units."
Steel says there are many other problems with the Regulation aside from its attack on the democratic rights of workers.
"The government is basically hijacking the Alberta Labour Relations Board - which is supposed to be an impartial, third-party tribunal - and is using it as an instrument to ram these changes through," says Steel.
"There is no consideration about whether the Board has the expertise or resources to make the changes, or if this role is even appropriate for a tri-partite, neutral body."
Steel says that the LRB is already under-staffed and hopelessly behind in rendering decisions on other labour matters - so these new burdens may derail the board's work in other sectors of the economy and with other groups of workers.
Steel predicts that putting the new Bill 27 regulations into practice will create a nightmare of litigation and flawed, unmanageable administrative systems. Further, he is sure that labour relations in health care - already at a dangerously low level - will deteriorate badly during implementation of the regulations.
"I think the government has deliberately thrown the entire health care system into chaos," says Steel. "They're trying to use this 'reorganization' as a cover to rollback the wage gains of health care workers and to punish health care unions."
"It's ironic", concludes Steel, "that this government, which refuses to regulate our electric and gas utilities to help Albertans, is all to willing to over-regulate health care at the expense of the basic rights of healthcare workers."
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Health care workers themselves will protest Bill 27 and its attached regulations at several worksite information pickets this afternoon. Noon-hour information pickets will be staged at both the Grey Nuns hospital in South Edmonton and the Misericordia hospital in West Edmonton.
At the Grey Nuns event, which Steel plans to attend, nurses will attach their contracts to black helium balloons and "send them to heaven." At the Misericordia event, which will be attended by AFL Secretary Treasurer Kerry Barrett, health care workers will lay wreaths to mark the "death of their rights and their contracts." |
For more information call:
Les Steel, AFL President @ 780-483-3021 (wk) 780-499-4135 (cell)
Gil McGowan, AFL Communications @ 780-483-3021 (wk)
Dark day for labour relations in Alberta
EDMONTON - By ramming Bill 27 through the Legislature, the Alberta government has abandoned all pretence that it is an impartial third party when it comes to labour relations in the province, says the Alberta Federation of Labour.
"The employers in the health care sector asked the government for a free hand to deal with their workers, and thats exactly what this new law gives them," says AFL President Les Steel.
"The door is now open for an all out assault on health care workers and their contracts. We've already seen the attack ads against nurses being run by the regional health authorities. Bill 27 is the next piece in the puzzle."
The government has tried to downplay the significance of Bill 27 by arguing that it is merely an attempt to streamline administration as the province moves to fewer regional health authorities. But the AFL says it is about much more than that.
"This law strips the right-to-strike from thousands of community health care workers; it undermines the right of health care workers to choose their own unions; and it removes power over labour relations from impartial tribunals like the Alberta Labour Relations Board and hands it to the provincial cabinet," says Steel.
"Basically what they've done is rigged the game. They've stacked the deck and tipped the playing field. They're using the law to bludgeon health care workers and weaken their power at the bargaining table."
Steel says the government may feel smug now that they've used their overwhelming majority to push this blatantly anti-labour piece of legislation through. But he says there will be a price to be paid.
"This government pays lip service to the importance of health care workers," says Steel. "They say they want to attract and retain more people. But at the same time they're stabbing these workers in the back. How are we supposed to attract health workers to this province and maintain a motivated workforce when the government is so eager to gut their contracts?"
Steel also thinks the government has another thing coming if they think they can enforce labour peace by passing draconian laws.
"They may think they can force health workers into submission with strike bans and threats of huge fines," he says. "But this isn't a strategy for labour peace; it's a recipe for confrontation. Unions in this province will not stand idly while our members' rights and contracts are stripped."
For more information call:
Les Steel, AFL President (780) 483-3021 (wk) / (780) 499-4135 (cell)
- or -
Gil McGowan, AFL Communications (780) 483-3021 (wk) / (780) 910-1137 (cell)
Unions reach out to aboriginal community on Day to Eliminate Racism
ENOCH - The Alberta Federation of Labour is marking March 21, the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racism, with a special workshop aimed at building bridges between unions and the aboriginal community.
The workshop will be held today, Friday March 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Enoch Cree Nation Arena on the Enoch Reserve south of Edmonton.
"The unfortunate reality in Canada today is that aboriginal people are marginalized and excluded from full participation in our society, our economy - and even our unions," says AFL Secretary Treasurer Kerry Barrett.
"That's why our human rights committee has decided to organize this workshop. We want to build bridges and foster understanding - so that unions can develop a deeper appreciation for aboriginal issues and concerns; and so that the aboriginal community can see unions as partners in the fight for economic and social justice."
The workshop will be divided into two main sections. First, union and aboriginal representatives will explain the history, priorities and concerns of their respective communities. Then the discussion will turn to strategies for cooperation between unions and aboriginal groups.
At the end of the day, the goal is to identify a number of concrete steps that can be taken to increase aboriginal involvement and representation within the labour movement.
"The labour movement wants to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to the fight against racism and discrimination," says Barrett. "Ultimately, we would like to see a Canadian society that is completely free of discrimination - in which all people have equal opportunities and representation regardless of the colour of their skin. But the first step is to take action within our own organizations."
Barrett says efforts to build bridges between different communities are particularly important in light of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
"The Americans are sending the message that aggression is the answer to conflict - and that harmonious relations can be enforced by an iron fist. We, on the other hand, think that the best way to reduce tensions between groups is to build bridges and foster understanding. That's what this workshop is all about."
For more information call:
Kerry Barrett, AFL Secretary Treasurer @ 780-720-8945 (cell)
Gil McGowan, AFL Communications @ 780-483-3021 (wk)