ALF V1

Farm Workers Day 2015 - yet another year farm workers denied basic workers’ rights

It’s time for government to act.

 Make sure you can vote in the Federal Election

Far from being “unsustainable,” Alberta’s largest pension plan is very healthy – and getting healthier

21^st Annual Kids’ Camp “Environment”

When: August 10 – 14, 2015
Where: Goldeye Centre near Nordegg on Goldeye Lake
Ages: 8 to 15 years

Registration has closed for the AFL Kids’ Camp, August 10 - 14, 2015. To all who have registered this year, please find camp information and forms packages that we require you to complete below by July 13^th. Fax to 780-484-5928, scan and e-mail to [email protected] or enclose in the self-addressed envelope mailed to you.

DEADLINE to submit forms to the AFL is Monday, July 13, 2015.
If forms are not received, campers will not be able to board the buses.

CAMPER FORMS – DUE BY JULY 13, 2015

Letter to Parents of Campers

Personal Health Information Form & Camper Agreement RETURN TO AFL

Parent/Guardian Authorization Form RETURN TO AFL

AFL Image Release Form RETURN TO AFL

AFL Waiver and Release Form RETURN TO AFL

Transportation Form (bus information) RETURN TO AFL

Centre for Outdoor Education (COE) Waiver Form RETURN TO AFL

Goldeye - KODA Informed Consent Form RETURN TO AFL

Goldeye - KODA Voluntary Release & Photo Release Form RETURN TO AFL

Kids’ Camp Rules

Information about the AFL Kids’ Camp 

What to Pack for the AFL Kids’ Camp

Directions to Camp Goldeye

Goldeye Centre Map

LEADER, JUNIOR COUNSELLORS, NURSES FORMS – DUE BY JULY 13, 2015

Letter to Leaders, Parents of Junior Counsellors, Nurses

Personal Health Information Form (Leaders/Junior Counsellors) RETURN TO AFL

AFL Waiver and Release Form RETURN TO AFL

Centre for Outdoor Education (COE) Waiver Form RETURN TO AFL

Goldeye - KODA Informed Consent Form RETURN TO AFL

Goldeye - KODA Voluntary Release & Photo Release Form RETURN TO AFL

Parent/Guardian Authorization Form (Junior Counsellors only) RETURN TO AFL

AFL Image Release Form (Junior Counsellors) RETURN TO AFL

AFL Image Release Form (Leaders) RETURN TO AFL

Transportation Form (bus information) RETURN TO AFL

Criminal Record Check - Letters (complete if over the age of 18) RETURN TO AFL

Information about the AFL Kids’ Camp  

What to Pack for the AFL Kids’ Camp

Kids’ Camp Rules

Advice for Leaders and Junior Counsellors

Directions to Camp Goldeye

Goldeye Centre Map

The AFL Kids’ Camp is a 5-day residential program that combines summer activities with educational activities. The camp is open to children of trade unionists belonging to unions affiliated to the Alberta Federation of Labour. Learning is combined with recreational activities such as canoeing, wall climbing, hiking, rappelling, group challenges, crafts and swimming.

Mothers’ Day marks beginning of week of action for child care

Theme: “Environment”

The AFL Kids’ Camp is a 5-day residential program that combines summer activities with educational activities.
The camp is open to children of trade unionists belonging to unions affiliated to the Alberta Federation of Labour. Learning is combined with recreational activities such as canoeing, wall climbing, hiking, rappelling, group challenges, crafts and swimming.

Despite years of promises, agricultural workers still excluded from provincial health and safety legislation

Poll released in advance of Airport Board meeting shows Wood Buffalo residents want outsourcing plan grounded

Fort McMurray – More than 89 per cent of Wood Buffalo region residents oppose the Fort McMurray airport’s plans to outsource cleaning and security services to a firm that hires Temporary Foreign Workers.

The poll comes in advance of a meeting of the Fort McMurray Airport Authority Board on Tuesday, where they will vote on the plan. If the plan goes ahead, dozens of local Canadian workers would be laid off – many of whom have worked for the airport for years.

“If they go ahead with this, they’ll be turning good jobs into bad jobs,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “It’s no wonder people in the community oppose this plan. It’ll be a blow to the economy – and to the community – if it goes ahead. And it comes at a time when the economy is already reeling from low oil prices.” 

The poll showed that Fort McMurray residents don’t just overwhelmingly oppose the plan, they are willing to take concrete action to show their displeasure about the destruction of Canadian jobs. More than 62 per cent said that if the plan went though, they would sign a pledge to take one fewer flight out of that airport every year. A further 74 per cent said there would be electoral consequences for members of council who had a hand in the plan going through.

“People in Fort McMurray have seen these TFWP shell games before, where a company gets rid of good jobs and brings in a contractor to get the same work done with exploitable and underpaid temporary foreign workers,” McGowan said. “What’s different this time is that it’s being done by an organization that is supposedly answerable to the public.”

The plan was put forward by Fort McMurray Airport Authority CEO Scott Clements. The poll showed that more than 54 per cent of residents would like to see him fired for trying to destroy local jobs. 

“The Temporary Foreign Worker program has had a direct impact on just about everyone in this community,” McGowan said. “Whether it’s your friend, your neighbour, if you live in Fort McMurray, you probably know people who have been put out of work, had their wages slashed, or had problems completing an apprenticeship because of the TFW program.”

Environics - Fort McMurray Airport Survey Results - PDF 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)          
or via e-mail [email protected]

Former Director of Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Rolf Wiborg Addresses AFL Convention

CALGARY – The former head of the Norwegian government’s oil directorate is speaking in Calgary on Friday, April 17.

Rolf Wiborg, who has four decades experience in Norway’s oil industry – both for private companies and as a Norwegian regulator – will address the Alberta Federation of Labour’s biennial convention in the Calgary Convention Centre at 10:35 a.m. Wiborg will speak about the need for a publicly-owned energy corporation to champion value-added development in the oil sands.

"You have to give up this idea that someone else has the right to tell you what to do with your resources or how your society should run," Wiborg said, noting that ensuring Canadians collect a fair share from the oil resources they own will take political will. "It can be done, but do the Canadian people have the power and the will? Do they have the collectiveness and guts to do it?"

Who:         Rolf Wiborg, former Director of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate

Where:    Calgary Convention Centre (120 – 9th Ave. S.E. Calgary)

                   South Building - McLeod Hall

When:      10:35 a.m., Friday, April 17, 2015

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

Delegates to AFL convention wonder: will the power of working people finally trump the power of the wealthy and well-connected?

CALGARY – Leaders from most of Alberta’s major unions will gather in Calgary this week, in the midst of a provincial election campaign in which their main issues have suddenly become pivotal and their preferred candidates are set to make major gains.

We’ve been saying for nearly a decade that Alberta has a tax and royalty system that overwhelmingly favours big corporations and the wealthy,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said on the eve of the AFL’s biennial convention. “Suddenly our issues and proposals for reform are being talked about by thousands and thousands of voters and many of the party leaders. To say that we’re excited and hopeful would be an understatement.

The AFL’s 2015 convention – titled “Dream No Little Dreams” – starts Thursday morning, April 16, and wraps on Sunday, April 19. The event is being held at the Calgary Convention Centre (South Building- McLeod Hall).

Highlights of the Convention include:

• AFL president Gil McGowan will address the convention about the AFL’s cheeky and much-discussed Better Way Alberta campaign, which many observers agree has “primed the pump” for the current debate that’s raging on corporate taxes.
  Thursday, April 16 – 10:40 a.m.

• Dr. Alex Himelfarb, the former Clerk of the Privy Council (the top bureaucrat for the federal government), whose new book, “Tax is NOT a four-letter word”, makes the case for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for quality public services.
  Thursday, April 16 – 2:30 p.m.

• Childcare Resource and Research unit director Martha Friendly will make the case that Canada needs a national child care program.
  Friday, April 17 – 9:30 a.m.

• Former director of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Rolf Wiborg will present a case for a publicly-owned energy corporation to champion value-added development in the oil sands. Wiborg, a petroleum engineer with more than 40 years working in Norway’s oil industry, is a leading expert in managing petroleum wealth.
  On Friday, April 17 – 10:35 a.m.

• Former Canadian ambassador to the UN Stephen Lewis will speak about the upcoming Federal election, and make the case for why Canadians need to rise up against Stephen Harper and take their country back.
  On Saturday, April 18 – 2:10 p.m.

Delegates will also debate plans for helping progressive candidates “get over the top” in the current provincial election campaign.

This is a crucial moment for working people. We think ordinary citizens in this province have finally reached the point where they’re ready to say: "enough is enough" McGowan said. This is shaping up to be the election we’ve all been waiting for: the election in which the power of working people finally trumps the power of the wealthy and the well-connected. At our convention, we’re going to make sure we do everything we can to take advantage of this historic opportunity.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]