Federal job training plan bad for Alberta
Canada Jobs Grant will take from the poor, to give to the rich
Edmonton – The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) is asking Premier Alison Redford to refuse the Canada Jobs Grant.
Federal and provincial ministers are meeting this week to discuss the controversial proposal that would see $300 million dollars taken away from existing government-run training programs to help subsidize employer-driven training. On top of seeing federal funds redirected, the program requires provincial governments to come up with additional matching funding. Moving ahead with the Canada Jobs Grant would mean that Alberta’s existing skills training programs would lose $33 million. The total impact to Alberta’s budget would be $66 million.
“There’s no guarantee that these grants won’t just be used for existing training that successful employers are already doing. And to pay for it, they want to scrap programs that are helping disadvantaged people participate in the labour force,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “The Canada Jobs Grant will further marginalize Alberta’s unemployed and underemployed workers. These workers are being passed over for stable, well-paying jobs, and sidelined in today’s economy. They’re robbing Peter to pay Midas.”
In areas with high unemployment rates, the program will be an unmitigated disaster. Employers who cannot afford to hire workers will not be able to afford $5,000 cash for training purposes. If no employers contribute, skills training programs will not otherwise be offered.
“The Canada Jobs Grant is essentially a wholesale privatization of the federal government’s role in skills training,” McGowan said. “There’s no incentive for employers to help train people who have been excluded from the economy, so they’re going to be left behind by this program.”
McGowan also noted that program is limited to short-term training, overlooking the need for workers in health care and the skilled trades, where developing the skills required takes four years or more.
The Alberta Federation of Labour has presented proposals that could help make the proposed grant system more functional.
“It’s key that we make this program work for young workers, for Indigenous Canadians, for women, and we need to see it available regardless of employer’s funding,” McGowan said. “It needs to work for Canadians who are on Employment Insurance, and for areas with high unemployment.”
-30-MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Northern Gateway deal could shortchange Alberta
Pipeline tolls are deductible from royalties; agreement could cost Alberta taxpayers
Edmonton – The Alberta Federation of Labour is warning that Albertans could be shortchanged for their natural resources if the province goes ahead with the pipeline deal Premier Alison Redford struck with her counterpart in B.C.
Under Alberta’s royalty framework, pipeline tolls are deductable from the funds that oil companies pay for the right to extract the province’s resources. Unless this is clarified, every penny that is paid to B.C. under the deal would be one less penny that goes to pay for public services in Alberta.
“The Northern Gateway pipeline is a bad deal for Canadians, this loophole could make it an even worse one,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “If Christy Clark is worried about B.C.’s revenues, she should work with Premier Redford toward creating more good-paying value-added jobs, rather than crafting a deal that could raid our coffers.”
An additional toll paid by companies shipping raw bitumen through British Columbia for refining in China will translate into fewer royalties paid to Albertans.
“It is entirely inappropriate for a neighbouring province to attempt to grab value from the resources that belong to Albertans,” McGowan said. “This deal could make Alberta’s budget deficit worse, it will undermine public services…on top of which, the Northern Gateway pipeline will funnel good-paying upgrading jobs out of the country.”
The benefits of the pipeline have been greatly overstated. Enbridge forecasts that the pipeline will bring only 228 permanent jobs across the entire pipeline, with the vast majority of them – 183 jobs – in Kitimat, B.C. Alberta will get a mere 24 permanent jobs from pipeline operations.
“Rather than ill-considered resource revenue grabs, Clark and Redford could provide incentives for in-province upgrading and refining of Alberta’s oil sands,” McGowan said.
-30-MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Money Talks, Thanks For Listening
Wealthy Canadians Praise PM’s Promotion of Plutocracy
Calgary – Policies that are gutting the Canadian middle class are awesome, according to the nation’s ostentatiously wealthy.
At a rally at 1:00 p.m. sharp on Halloween (Oct. 31), affluent activists are gathering outside the BMO Centre in Calgary to thank 2013 Conservative Party of Canada Convention delegates for supporting policies that suppress wages, gut retirement security, and place an unfair burden on middle-class families.
“How could I enjoy my grotesque wealth if average people wouldn’t fight over the scraps from my table?” Canadians For Inequality campaign chair Remmington Smythe said. “We want to thank Stephen Harper for helping make so many Canadians so delightfully poor.”
Smythe, an entirely fictional character, will be played by Calgary-based actor Wally Houn at the protest, which is organized by the Alberta Federation of Labour, the province’s largest worker advocacy organization. Organizers have hired costumed actors to portray Canada’s 1%, who will be holding protest-style placards with lighthearted messages that take aim at Conservative Party policies.
“Our protest may only draw one per cent of the number that you would see at one of those proletarian rabble gatherings,” Smythe said. “But trust me, we have one hundred per cent of the voice.”
The event is intended to satirize how Canada’s governing party has made decisions in the interest of corporations and prosperous individuals, and lavished supporters with lavish perks such as seats in the Senate. Organizers say that policies they’re taking aim at include the expanded Temporary Foreign Worker program, the selling of Canadian natural resources to state-owned foreign firms, and the attack on unions.
“These are very serious issues, but we wanted to tackle them with humour, rather than anger,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “Sometimes satire is the best form of protest.”
Click here for formatted PDF of the release.
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT:Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Media Advisory: Money Talks, Thank You For Listening
Satirical protest parodies Prime Minister’s policy of plutocracy
At a rally at 1:00 p.m. sharp this Halloween, a satirical protest performance will take place outside the BMO Centre in Calgary. At the event, actors and volunteers will pose as extravagantly wealthy multibillionaires, and will thank 2013 Conservative Party of Canada Convention delegates for supporting policies that suppress wages, gut retirement security, and place an unfair burden on middle-class families.
The event is organized by the Alberta Federation of Labour, the province’s largest worker advocacy organization.
When: Thursday, October 31, 1:00 p.m. sharp
Where: BMO Convention Centre, 12th Avenue SE & 3rd Street SE Calgary
Who: Alberta Federation of Labour
(President Gil McGowan will be available for comment)
What: Satirical Protest
-30-MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
For more information, please contact:
Ishani Weera, AFL Organizing and Outreach Director at 780-218-7956 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Redford is wrong when she says “Albertans feel comfortable with where they are” on pensions and retirement security
Polling shows Albertans are just as worried about retirement security as other Canadians and would overwhelming support expansion of CPP
Edmonton – Premier Alison Redford is out of step with the retirement needs of the citizens in her own province, says the president of Alberta’s largest worker organization.
On Friday, the premier told reporters that “Albertans feel comfortable with where they are” on pensions and retirement income. Her comments are contradicted by polling conducted by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).
Redford made her comments in response to suggestions from Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne that the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) should be expanded to address a looming crisis in retirement income.
“The last time the issue of CPP expansion was on the national agenda, we conducted a province-wide poll that paints a very different picture than the one Premier Redford attempted to paint this weekend,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “The poll was conducted in late 2010 and it showed that many Albertans are worried about their own preparedness for retirement. It also shows that Albertans support the concept of CPP expansion in the same overwhelming numbers as Canadians in other parts of the country.”
High levels of support among Albertans for CPP expansion are not surprising given the fact that Alberta has the lowest percentage (30 per cent) of workers covered by workplace pensions in the country. At the same time, only about 38 per cent of Albertans contribute to RRSPs, and the median contribution is only $3,200 per year.
“A clear majority of working Albertans are facing the prospect of hard times when they retire, if they can retire at all,” McGowan said. “That’s why I was so shocked when Premier Redford was so quick to dismiss Premier Wynne’s proposals last week. When will the Alberta government get out of the way and stop obstructing a pension solution that is supported by every other province and the majority of its own citizens?”
The poll that McGowan referred to was commissioned by the AFL and the CLC. It was conducted in October 2010. Here are a few of the poll’s findings:
- 59.9 per cent of Albertans said they felt insecure about their retirement
- 75.9 per cent of Albertans felt that the CPP’s maximum annual payout of about $11,000 was too low
- 63.5 per cent of Albertans support the concept of expanding CPP
- 71.2 per cent of Albertans said the Alberta government should get out of the way and allow changes to CPP
McGowan says he was also surprised by Redford’s comments because they contradicted statements she made in 2010.
“Back in late 2010, as part of our campaign to support CPP expansion, a group of about 60 of our members and activists met face-to-face with MLAs at the Alberta Legislature,” McGowan recalls.
“One of the MLAs who met with us was Alison Redford, who at the time was Minister of Justice. I remember it clearly because she was the highest-ranking member of the government caucus who agreed to meet with us. At that time, she told our members who visited her office that she knew Albertans were worried about having enough money to retire. We were thrilled because we thought she got it. Now we’re left wondering why the Premier has changed her tune.”
-30-MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Government cutbacks undermining education
More students, less money is a recipe for trouble
Edmonton –A coalition of school employees is warning Albertans that the quality of our public education system is at risk. Frontline education workers opened the first day of the new legislative session by speaking out on their concerns. Support staff from a number of school board regions including Edmonton Public, Edmonton Catholic and Calgary Public gathered in the legislature to highlight the need for increased funding.
On behalf of their students, a province-wide coalition of staff working in primary education is calling on government to restore 14.5 million that was cut from Alberta’s school budgets. Kids Not Cuts Alberta says ongoing education cuts are undermining the ability of schools to provide safe, productive learning environments for Alberta’s K-12 Students.
“Premier Redford should be paying close attention to what this coalition is saying. These are facility operators, special needs teaching assistants, library technicians, and custodial staff that are at the front lines of making sure our K-12 schools work. They have an insider perspective on what needless cuts to school board budgets do to a student’s ability to learn and excel,” Co-Chair of the 10,000-member coalition Don Boucher said.
The coalition notes that according to the Government’s own calculations student populations are projected to increase in the coming years, but budget cuts mean that schools are getting cleaned less often, that students with special needs are getting less attention, libraries have fewer staff to keep them running, and the lack of support staff means teachers can’t focus on delivering the curriculum.
“Many of us are simply fed up with what we see happening in our schools,” CUPE 30 President Mike Scott said. “It’s a shame that in one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in North America, we can’t seem to make funding our children’s schools a priority. We have 11,000 more students in our system this year alone. The government’s 14.5 million in cuts don’t make sense. We must restore these shameful cuts and ensure adequate funding for next year.”
“The legislature is back in session and planning for Budget 2014 is underway,” Boucher said. “Alberta’s students and parents cannot afford to have a repeat of last year’s budget catastrophe. Parents deserve to know their kids are in a safe, clean environment. Students deserve to have the resources they need to learn.”
Kids Not Cuts Alberta is a group of employees who have taken a stand for Alberta's kids through participation in their unions – the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Unifor. Students, parent groups, our amazing teacher colleagues, as well as everyday Albertans are allies in our coalition.
The Coalition was joined by New Democrat Education critic Deron Bilous. “This PC government can’t be trusted to stand up for kids or our public schools,” said Bilous. “They promised long-term, stable and predictable funding and then broke their promise, instead delivering cutbacks that mean that too many kids are in overcrowded classrooms without the staff supports they need.”
Kids Not Cuts Fact Sheet: Facts on Growing Schools and Decreasing Funding
-30-MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]
Media Advisory: Government cutbacks undermining education
Coalition stands up for the educational needs of our children
On Monday, October 28 the Kids Not Cuts Alberta coalition will hold a press conference in Edmonton. Monday marks the opening of the Alberta Legislature and Kids Not Cuts Alberta will use the occasion to highlight the negative impacts of cuts and to urge provincial politicians of all parties to make improved education funding an immediate priority.
When: Monday, October 28, 11:00 a.m.
Where: Alberta Legislature Press Room
Who: Don Boucher, Kids Not Cuts Alberta Co-Chair
Mike Scott, president CUPE Local 30
Members from the Kids Not Cuts Coalition
-30-MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected].
What went wrong with the fast-track stream of the temporary foreign worker program
What went wrong with the fast-track stream of the temporary foreign worker program?
A closer look at the Accelerated Labour-Market Opinion (ALMO)
Widely regarded as a failure of policy and of politics, the Harper government's "fast-track" Temporary Foreign Worker Program stream continues to have an impact on Canadian workers.
The fast-track stream, known as the Accelerated Labour-Market Opinion (ALMO) was launched in April 2012. Its original intent was supposedly to help employers hire temporary foreign workers in high-skill occupations, including skilled trades,[1] but the program went off the rails from the get-go.
We're revisiting this failed fast-track stream now because thousands of low-wage employers accessed this TFW stream designed for high-skilled workers. Worse yet, many of these same employers continue to pay these low-wage workers less than average regional wages. This, in our opinion, borders on fraud.
We remain committed to our position that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program be eliminated and for it to be replaced by a responsive and flexible immigration system that meets our labour-market needs.
AFL Release: Oct 25 AFL warns against reviving TFW fast-track