ALF V1

Edmonton – Expressing their grave concern about the still-unknown contents of the Alberta government’s pension policy announcement tomorrow, the presidents of Alberta’s four largest public service unions and the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) said today that their members’ retirement savings plans are sustainable, affordable, modest and fair.

There is a crisis in retirement savings for middle class Canadians, “but it is not the crisis that has been cooked up by right-wing lobby groups,” said the joint statement by Health Sciences Association of Alberta president Elisabeth Ballermann, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees president Guy Smith, United Nurses of Alberta president Heather Smith and Canadian Union of Public Employees Alberta president Marle Roberts.

“The real crisis is the retirement security disaster faced by tens of thousands, possibly millions, of middle-class taxpayers in Alberta and throughout Canada who don’t have workplace pensions,” said their statement (see attached), read by AFL president Gil McGowan in front of Government House, where Alberta Finance Minister Doug Horner will make his pension announcement tomorrow.

“The solution to the real retirement crisis is staring us in the face,” the four union leaders said. “It is not to attack the retirement savings of working Canadians or to raise the age at which they can retire, but to provide a fair publicly administered pension plan for all.”

The joint statement on pensions emphasized the sustainability of all of Alberta’s current public service pension plans. “As we speak, thanks to the contributions made by plan members, these plans are returning to full funding, where they stood in the 1990s.”

The contributions made by members and employers represent savings from members’ pay, the leaders noted, adding that payouts to members tend to be very modest – the average yearly pension paid to members of the PSPP is currently $12,414 and the average pension paid to members of the LAPP is $14,958.

“These modest retirement incomes constitute the life savings of plan members,” the statement said. “They are a huge benefit to the Alberta economy because most of the retirement income of middle class Albertans is spent right here in our own Alberta communities.”

The leaders expressed their concern that, pushed by aggressive lobbying by right-wing groups, there is a risk the pensions of approximately 300,000 of their members and former members may become a political football for a government that feels the need to re-establish its conservative image to confront the Wildrose Party Opposition.

None of the stakeholder groups representing plan members – who are technically supposed to be equal partners in the plan – have been informed of what Horner intends to announce tomorrow to the public, media and plan participants.

Horner’s stakeholder meeting is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday, September 16 at Government House.

AFL Backgrounder: Labour Coalition on Pensions Backgrounder

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

Urgent Action

Join us for Labour Day Celebrations

District Labour Councils all over the province will be hosting Labour Day Barbecues for the unemployed and underemployed. These volunteer-run events help the labour community connect with our local communities.

Medicine Hat and District Labour Council BBQ
Monday, September 2, 2013, 11:30 am to 2:00 pm
Riverside Park, 1st Street and 6th Avenue NE, Medicine Hat, AB

Edmonton and District Labour Council BBQ
Saturday, August 31, 2013, 11:30 am to 3:30 pm
Giovanni Cabato Park, 95 Street and 109 Ave, Edmonton, AB

Calgary and District Labour Council BBQ
Monday, September 2, 2013, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Calgary Olympic Plaza, 228 – 8 Ave SE, Calgary, AB

Lethbridge and District Labour Council event
Monday, September 2, 2013, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Research Station Park , 5403 – 1 Avenue S, Lethbridge, AB

Wood Buffalo and District Labour Council event
Monday, September 2, 2013, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Howard Pew Park, Tolen Drive, Fort McMurray, AB

News

UNIFOR founding convention to re-invigorate labour activism

This Labour Day weekend, thousands of elected CAW and CEP delegates, along with staff and special guests will descend on Toronto to take part in the founding convention of Unifor, Canada's newest union.

Unifor represents the largest coming together of two labour organizations in Canadian history. With more than 300,000 members in workplaces across the country, Unifor will be a force championing the rights of all working people.

Can't attend in person? You can watch history unfold online!

Unifor's founding convention will be live streamed at http://www.newunionconvention.ca/

Alberta’s minimum wage increased, still worst in Canada

As of September 1, the minimum wage will be increased from $9.75 to $9.95, but Alberta’s lowest-income earners will still be the worst-paid in Canada.

The minimum wage for liquor servers will remain the same at $9.05. Alberta’s minimum wage increases automatically each year under a formula that links the minimum wage to the cost of living.

“A terrible wage that keeps up with inflation will remain a terrible wage,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “How can it be that the richest province is the stingiest? Alberta has a booming economy, a high cost of living, but even with this increase, we have the lowest minimum wage in the country?”

If a minimum wage worker puts in 35 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, they’ll earn $18,109 a year before taxes. That’s significantly less than the Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO), the official poverty line that Statistics Canada defines as $23,298. A rate of $14.05 without benefits, or $12.08 with benefits, would be required for someone working full-time at minimum wage to get beyond that poverty line.

Download the AFL press release on Alberta’s Minimum Wage: http://www.afl.org/index.php/Press-Release/albertas-minimum-wage-remains-worst-in-canada.html

Download the AFL backgrounder on Alberta’s Minimum Wage: http://www.afl.org/https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/afl/pages/206/attachments/original/1377615004/Backgrounder_Minimum%20Wage%202013_2013August27.pdf?1377615004

Investigations find employers skimming from TFW paycheques

Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) face a greater risk of being the victims of payroll fraud.

Information obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour shows that employers are likelier to violate the Employment Standards Code when they’re dealing with TFWs. Of investigations launched because of a complaint by a TFW, 47 per cent found the employer had contravened the Code. By comparison, the figure was 33 per cent when the complaint came from a Canadian worker.

“Workers brought in under the Temporary Foreign Worker program are less likely to know their workplace rights, are more likely to have language barriers, and are beholden to their employer for their ability to stay in Canada,” Alberta Federation of Labour Secretary Treasurer Siobhan Vipond said. “It seems clear that some predatory employers know these workers are vulnerable, and they’re exploiting that vulnerability. It’s disgraceful.”

The figures, which were collected from April 2012 – March 2013, were the result of investigations that were started because of a worker complaint. The province investigated only 218 complaints despite there being 68,319 TFWs in Alberta at that time.

Read the whole story at: http://www.afl.org/index.php/Press-Release/temporary-foreign-workers-shortchanged.html

Did you know…

• Of the 30,000 Albertans working for minimum wage, 35.9 per cent were aged 30 or older.
•  More than 37 per cent of minimum wage earners have been at the same minimum wage job for more than a year, while 13.9 per cent had been at the same job for more than five years.
• More than 300,000 working Albertans, or 13.5 per cent of the total employed population in the province, lost 7.5 million hours of work because of the flooding in June.
• In the last 12 months, 243 employers in Alberta have been given the green light to bring in Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) while paying them minimum wage.

Events

August 31: EDLC Labour Day BBQ

September 1: Calgary Pride Parade

September 2: CDLC Labour Day BBQ

October 30 – November 1: Saskatchewan Federation of Labour Convention

Uncovered documents prove employers using TFW program as a first choice rather than offering a decent wage to Canadians

Edmonton – Canadian wages are being undermined by employers who use the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program to avoid paying anything more than minimum wage.

A list obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) shows that 243 employers in Alberta are accessing the Temporary Foreign Worker program rather than paying employees more than the province’s sub-poverty $9.75 minimum wage – the lowest general minimum wage in the country.

“If employers were really using the TFW program as a last resort, rather than a first choice, they wouldn’t be paying these workers the minimum wage,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “They can’t say they’ve actually tried to hire Canadians if they’re not offering more than minimum wage.”

Of the 243 employers, the majority (58 per cent) are in the food service industry. The list includes Boston Pizza locations, Ricky’s All-Day Grills and a variety of sushi restaurants and pubs. The full list can be downloaded HERE. Most of these approved Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) will permit the employer to hire multiple Temporary Foreign Workers.

“This list shows that the TFW program is being used to suppress wages and displace Canadian workers. Anyone claiming that there’s a labour shortage is either deliberately lying, or deeply misinformed,” McGowan said. “If there’s a labour shortage, wages are supposed to be going up to attract workers to fill the vacancies.”

Under the Temporary Foreign Worker program, employers applying to bring in workers must commit to paying the prevailing wages for the type of worker they are hiring. By paying the TFWs minimum wage, these employers are admitting that paying bottom dollar is their standard practice.

“It’s an irony that the Harper Government claims to be a big defender of the free market, but it’s clear that they’re using the TFW program to undermine the Canadian labour market,” McGowan said. “The Federal Conservatives are deliberately using their power to help service-sector employers keep wages low when economic conditions suggest they should be going up.”

The documents released by the AFL also help explain why more and more teenagers and recently arrived landed immigrants are having a hard time getting entry-level jobs. According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for youths aged 15-24 in Alberta was more than 11 per cent in May.

“For young people, low-wage jobs in the service sector have traditionally been the entry point into the labour market,” McGowan said. “But now those bottom rungs on the ladder are increasingly being filled with exploitable TFWs.”

As of September 1, the minimum wage will be increased to $9.95, but will remain the lowest general minimum wage in Canada. It will remain a wage that is well below the poverty line. Working 35 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, someone earning Alberta’s new minimum wage of $9.95 an hour will earn $18,109 a year before taxes. According to Statistics Canada, the Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO) for a single wage earner with no dependents is $23,298.

“The people campaigning against increases to the minimum wage argue that it’s a starting point, and that most people don’t stay on it. But this list of TFW employers shows that to be a lie,” McGowan said. “Because of the temporary nature of this program, these workers will likely never get a raise.”

The AFL has called for the government to institute a minimum wage that would allow those working full-time to earn a minimum of $23,298 – That would work out to $14.05 without benefits, or $12.08 with benefits.

“Someone working full-time at one of these jobs is below the poverty line. These employers are importing workers so they can be poor here,” McGowan said. “They’re importing poverty.”

AFL Backgrounder:  Temporary Foreign Workers and Minimum Wage

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]

Backgrounder_Temporary Foreign Workers and Minimum Wage_2012Aug29

AFL Release Aug. 29: "Minimum-wage TFW list shows program undermining Canadian wages"

2013-ATIP A-2013-00218 TFWs earning 9 75

AFL Release Aug. 29: "Minimum-wage TFW list shows program undermining Canadian wages"

Edmonton – The Redford government is raising the minimum wage next week, but Alberta’s lowest-income earners will still be the worst-paid in Canada.

As of September 1, the provincial general minimum wage will increase from $9.75 to $9.95. The minimum wage for liquor servers will remain the same at $9.05. Alberta’s minimum wage increases automatically each year under a formula that links the minimum wage to the cost of living.

“A terrible wage that keeps up with inflation will remain a terrible wage,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “How can it be that the richest province is the stingiest? Alberta has a booming economy, a high cost of living, but even with this increase, we have the lowest minimum wage in the country?”

If a minimum wage worker puts in 35 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, they’ll earn $18,109 a year before taxes. That’s significantly less than the Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO), the official poverty line that Statistics Canada defines as $23,298. A rate of $14.05 without benefits, or $12.08 with benefits, would be required for someone working full-time at minimum wage to get beyond that poverty line.

“If someone is working full-time, they should not be below the poverty line,” McGowan said. “In Alberta, we have a sub-poverty wage. It’s a wage that too often will mean choosing between rent and food.”

Workers in B.C., Manitoba and Ontario can all expect a minimum of $10.25 an hour. Nova Scotia is a little bit better at $10.30 an hour. New Brunswick, Newfoundland and N.W.T. all pay $10.00 an hour for minimum wage. In Quebec, it’s $10.15. And in Nunavut, it’s $11.00 an hour.

“The Government’s plan to make annual inflation-based increases to the minimum wage has a lot of merit. The problem is that they started doing so only after many years in which they’d allowed inflation to greatly outpace the minimum wage,” McGowan said. “So when they started with the annual increases, the minimum wage was way, way, way too low for Alberta’s economy.”

In today’s dollars, Alberta’s minimum wages were significantly higher in the late 1970s than they are now. Accounting for inflation, the minimum wage of $3.00 in 1977 had the equivalent buying power of more than $11 today.

“Almost 30,000 Albertans earn the provincial minimum wage. This is a pressing issue to every one of them,” McGowan said. “Almost half of these workers are over the age of 24, and nearly half work these jobs full-time. There are too many people struggling to get by on too low a minimum wage.”

According to government estimates, 1.8% of Alberta’s 1,642,400 are earning minimum wage. More than 72 per cent of Albertans who earn minimum wage are women.

AFL Backgrounder:  Minimum Wage 2013

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

2013 Backgrounder_Minimum Wage

Part of News Release: Alberta's minimum wage remains worst in Canada_2013Aug27

Minister should be ashamed of Twitter tag-team to peddle TFW expansion and other bad policies

Edmonton – A Twitter forum organized by the Harper government and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is nothing more than a cheap gimmick aimed at justifying low-wage policies like the expansion of the Temporary Foreign Worker program, says the Alberta Federation of Labour.

Today at noon, Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney joined CFIB president Dan Kelly on the social networking site Twitter to answer questions about the Canada Jobs Grant program and “ongoing labour market pressures,” despite Statistics Canada reporting that there are 6.4 unemployed Canadians for every vacant job.

“The CFIB says that there’s a labour shortage – but they always say there’s a labour shortage,” says Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan.

“The low-wage employers that the CFIB represents are using this myth about labour shortages to justify bad public policy, like the expansion of Temporary Foreign Worker program. But experts at the U of A, the U of C, CIBC, and the federal government’s own researchers say the CFIB is wrong.”

In May, the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy published a report stating that Canada had all the workers that we need.

That opinion was echoed by the University of Alberta’s Institute for Public Economics in June, when they wrote that problems in Alberta have more to do with training and productivity than labour shortages.

In 2011, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada projects that there will be no major labour market imbalances over the next ten years.

“We’ve crunched the numbers as well, and it’s clear there is no general labour shortage in Alberta,” McGowan said. “Despite all of the CFIB’s whining, if there is a shortage of anything, it’s a shortage of people willing to work for the crappy wages that employers in the service sector are offering.”

“This Twitter conversation is not a conversation at all. It’s a gimmick designed to spread falsehoods,” concluded McGowan.

“The Minister should be ashamed of himself for spreading misinformation about Canadian labour markets. And he should be ashamed of using the power of government to help low-wage employers keep wages low when economic conditions suggest they should be going up. The Minister has clearly forgotten that he works for Canadians, not the CFIB.”

-30-

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

Federation of Labour Reminds Premier of Her Promise to Improve Farm Safety Regulations

Edmonton – Farm workers deserve straight answers as to why Alison Redford has not fulfilled her promise of workplace rights for agricultural workers.

In a letter to the Premier on Aug. 20, the Alberta Federation of Labour reminded Redford of promises that she made during the 2011 Progressive Conservative leadership race. During the race, Redford told the Calgary Herald editorial board: “We have to have farm workers protected. Hired employees on farms are entitled to that protection.”

Alberta remains the only province where farm workers are excluded from occupational health and safety laws, as well as legislation governing hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays, vacation pay, the right to refuse unsafe work, being informed of work-related dangers and compensation if they are injured on the job.

Provincial Occupational Health and Safety Regulations specifically omit agricultural worksites.

“It’s been two years and we’ve seen little movement to fulfill this commitment,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan wrote in the letter. “Of course, politicians are allowed to change their minds when new facts come to light or circumstances change. But citizens deserve an explanation.”

The Government of Alberta also continues to ignore the advice of one of its own judges. A judicial inquiry into the death of farm worker Kevin Chandler found Alberta’s discriminatory practice against farm workers unjustifiable.

Judge Peter Barley, the Provincial Court Judge assigned to the Inquiry wrote in his report, “No logical explanation was given as to why paid employees on a farm are not covered by the same workplace legislation as non-farm employees.”

The Alberta Federation of Labour declared August 20 to be Farm Workers Day at the organization’s 2005 Convention, and has been calling on the government to allow farm workers the same protections as most Alberta workers enjoy.

“The people who work in Alberta’s vibrant agricultural sector deserve the same protections as any other Albertans,” McGowan said. “It’s clear from her comments in 2011, that Alison Redford understands this. I would like to know the Premier’s reasoning for not turning her commitment into action.”

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.289.6528 (cell)

or via e-mail [email protected]

Putting local job seekers first in line, but labour union says changes not enough

Employers looking to hire temporary foreign workers will now have to first secure a Labour Market Opinion and pay a corresponding processing fee of $275.

The announcement by Minister of Employment and Social Development Jason Kenney which came into effect on August 1, is part of measures which aim to ensure that employers hire locals first before considering foreign workers.

"Our government's number one priority remains jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity," said Kenney. "These additional reforms help ensure that Canadians are first in line for available jobs. They also ensure that taxpayers no longer pay the cost of processing employer applications for temporary foreign workers."

"Qualified Canadians, including new Canadians, should have first crack at available jobs," added Chris Alexander, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. "These new measures demonstrate that our Government is committed to ensuring the Temporary Foreign Worker program functions as intended."

The processing fee requirement for employers will help curb unnecessary spending of taxpayer money, as was the case in 2012 when 60 percent of positive Labour Market Opinions did not lead to a work permit being issued to a temporary foreign worker, according to the government.

Aside from the LMO requirement, the revised Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations now defines a new language assessment factor that states English and French are the only languages that can be identified as a job requirement, both in LMO requests and in advertisements by employers applying to hire temporary foreign workers, unless employers can demonstrate that another language is essential for the job.

Job advertising requirements have also been extended from two to four weeks, while the 15 per cent pay gap for temporary foreign workers has also been eliminated, according to the government.

The government is also planning to implement rules on the cancellation of work permits as well as the suspension of LMO processing, and requiring employers to submit future plans for transitioning to local employees.

"The reforms announced today and in recent months further strengthen the integrity of the Temporary Foreign Worker program and ensure that more employers hire Canadians before hiring temporary foreign workers," said Kenney. "These improvements help ensure the Temporary Foreign Worker program is only used as intended—to fill acute skills shortages on a temporary basis."

Meanwhile, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) warns that revisions to the foreign workers program will not be effective against employers who seek to exploit foreign workers.

The AFL, which has long been a critic of the program, says that the $275 Labour Market Opinion processing fee will only cost employers around three and a half cents each hour over the four-year course of a temporary foreign worker's employment duration.

"A lot of these low-wage employers in the service sector will happily pay that for a worker who is willing to work for less for years and is too vulnerable to complain. $275 is a drop in the bucket and will not provide a significant disincentive to any employers who are trying to keep wages low," said Gil McGowan, president of the AFL.

"Leaving the determination of whether TFWs are adversely affecting the economy in the hands of employers to see if Canadians are being displaced is laughable. Low-wage employers can't be relied upon to protect the public interest."

The topic of temporary foreign workers is now popular among politicians, with the number of immigrant workers shooting up to over 340,000 in just 10 years despite poor economic conditions and the number of unemployed locals looking for jobs.

Fanning the flames are reported cases of employers exploiting TFWs.

"The Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which has been greatly expanded since the Conservatives took power in 2006, is discredited, and has lost public support," McGowan said. "They're hoping these changes will make it palatable, but Canadians know exploitation when they see it. Canadians don't want to see the creation of a permanent non-voting underclass of workers who don't have the same rights as other residents of the country."

Beacon News online, Friday, Aug. 9, 2013
Byline: Kharl Prado