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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)

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."

Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour, June 29, 2005

We're here today because a crime has been committed.

Laws that were supposed to protect workers have been broken.

Rules that were supposed to compel companies to honour the contracts they sign were trampled on.

As a result of these violations of the rules, these failures to observe the letter and the spirit of the law, jobs have been lost, careers have been interrupted, families have been forced to endure unexpected and undeserved economic hardship.

To make matters worse, the villains in the story didn't act alone - they had accomplices.

And those accomplices were people who - in theory at least - the workers were supposed to be able to rely on.

Unfortunately, this is not some prime-time crime drama that you might see on TV. This is real life.

The bad guys in this story are the managers at Finning - and their accomplices are the Labour Relations Board and the provincial government.

We're all familiar with what's gone on here.

The business we see in front of us today is a testament to the mean-spiritedness of one employer and the complete inadequacy of our province's labour and labour relations institutions.

Finning bankrolled OEM. Finning owns most of the stock in OEM. Finning provided OEM with most of its business.

But the Labour Relations Board, in its wisdom, says OEM is different from Finning and is not bound to honour any of the contracts negotiated by Finning.

They also saw nothing wrong with OEM signing a new deal with CLAC even before this building was finished - and even before workers had been hired.

How much can you trust a so-called union that is hand-picked by the employer?

We all know this is a shell game. For all intents and purpose, OEM is Finning. All that's happened is that they've moved down the street and put up a new sign.

The goal of this superficial identity change has been clear from the beginning. This wasn't about contracting out or doing business differently. This was about breaking a duly negotiated contract. This was about breaking a real union and replacing it with a lap dog association that was more to the employers liking.

One important point that needs to be made is that these kinds of tactics would not have been allowed in any other Canadian jurisdiction.

In any other province, Finning would have been slapped down, found in violation - and you would be working inside as proud members of IAM.

Even here in Alberta, the law says that employers can't simply change their address or change their name to get rid of a duly elected and duly constituted union.

But our government wrote its laws badly and they tipped the playing field in favour of the employer. And our Labour Relations Board has abandoned all pretext of being object - they've bent over backwards and tied themselves in knots trying to find ways to justify what Finning has done.

The LRB is supposed to be a watchdog. But it's clear they're a lap dog - one that Finning has on a very short leash.

So where do we go from here? The message that we need to send today is that we're not giving up. IAM is continuing to fight this unjust situation in the courts. The AFL and all of our affiliates will continue to support them in that effort.

But we have to go further. If we let Finning get away with this, it's just a matter of time before another employer tries the same shell game.

So we need to support IAM. We need to fight CLAC whenever they slither out from under their rocks. And we need to make this a political issue - so working people understand that this is what Tory government brings us.

Today, they were supposed to be having a grand opening here. Ralph Klein was supposed to be in there celebrating with corporate types who have broken the letter and spirit of Alberta law - the laws that the Premier is supposed to protect and uphold. But they're not inside. We chased them away. That's a step in the right direction - but we still have a lot more chasing to do.

In conclusion, I want all of you to know that the AFL and the rest of the labour movement are behind you in this fight.

We all have a stake - because if Finning is able to get away with this kind of union-busting - then no working people in this province are safe.

That's why we're here for you today and that's why we'll continue being with you as you continue your fight.

Good luck and thank you.

EDMONTON - In a key decision released today, the Alberta Labour Relations Board has, once again, proven itself little more than a lapdog for big business, says Gil McGowan, the new president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"The Board today reversed its earlier decision that found Finning Canada and O.E.M. Remanufacturing were common employers and that the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Lodge No. 99 had successor union rights to the operations of O.E.M.," said McGowan.

"If this results stands, 160 long-term Finning employees are going to be out of work - and their families are going to suffer the consequences."

According to McGowan, the situation began when Finning built a new remanufacturing plant in Edmonton, but thinly disguised its complete ownership of that plant in order to avoid its responsibilities to its current union and current employees.

"By reversing its original decision that the two employers were in fact the same entity, the Board has legitimized Finning's actions which include signing a deal with a different employee group at the new plant, and laying-off and replacing the employees in their current rebuilding facility," said McGowan.

The Board could only reach its current position by pretending that Finning International and Finning Canada - a wholly-owned subdivision of Finning International � were two different entities, claimed McGowan.

"The Alberta Labour Relations Board has once again jumped through hoops in order to get to an employer-friendly decision," charged McGowan. "This is a good example of why working people and unions have no faith or trust in the Board any longer. To say that Finning International and Finning Canada are separate entities flies in the face of past precedents and run counter to common sense."

The real relationship between Finning and OEM was recognized by the LRB in its original ruling and can be summarized as follows:

• Finning Canada, a division of Finning International, pays the total costs for the construction of the new O.E.M. component rebuilding centre.
• Finning provides all of the money for the creation of O.E.M. - financing the purchase of two existing independent firms.
• Finning International controls all of the Class A shares in the parent company for O.E.M.
• Finning contracts all of its rebuilding work to O.E.M., announces it will be shutting down its own facility and dismissing the workers.
• The "new" company signs a union contract with the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) leaving IAM Lodge 99 and its members out in the cold.

"The Alberta Labour Relations Code section 46 was clearly written to prevent employers from evading their union responsibilities and the rights of workers by simply starting up a new company," concluded McGowan.

"But now the Alberta Labour Relations Board charged with enforcing the Act is actually undermining the intent of that Act. This is a betrayal of working people, plain and simple. If there ever was any doubt where the LRB's real allegiance lies, those doubts have been put to rest. With this decision, the LRB has proven that they are not really an impartial referee in matters of labour relations."

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For more information contact:

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

Kerry Barrett, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour, February 2005

Good afternoon. My name is Kerry Barrett and I'm here to bring greetings on behalf of the Alberta Federation of Labour's Executive Council.

The Federation represents about 120,000 members from many different unions in this province.

At one time or another, we've all suffered the frustration and anger that comes from dealing with a stubborn employer.

So, we understand what you're going through right now - and we want to assure you that both as unions and as individuals, we are prepared to anything and everything we can to help you get a fair collective agreement.

The struggle that you're having with Telus is one that is going on in many sectors of the economy.

On one side, we have a company that is worth billions - and is the dominant player in its industry in western Canada. On the other had, we have you, the workers, who have made the company strong.

The mangers of Telus have made big mistakes, they've made bad investments and they've consistently focused on short-term self-interest over the real long-term best interests of the company.

But who gets the blame for managements' failures? And who has to pay the price, in terms of lay-offs, pay cuts, reduced benefits? It's not the guys on top, it's not people like Darren Entwhistle.

Instead, it's people like you, the people who actually do the work.

That's what this dispute is really about. And it's the same kind of dispute we in the labour movement are dealing with in so many sectors.

The good news is that you've been taking action. You've stood up for a fair and equitable deal for all Telus employees & and you've won a few rounds at the CIRB.

Obviously, the company's latest tactics are frustrating. If they put half as much effort into negotiating as they put into fighting there our employees, a deal would have been reached long ago.

But that's the way too many managers approach labour relations these days. They dig their heels in, they try to divide people they try to starve us out. It's all part of the play book.

But you know? Even in this hostile climate, unions like yours can win. Other unions and other workers have faced down tactics like this and still emerged with good agreements. I am confident that you will do the same.

In conclusion I'd just like to say two things. First, our federation's convention is coming up here in Edmonton in May.

I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there and celebrating what I'm confident will eventually be a victory for you and TWU.

Second, and more importantly, I want to make sure you know that - whatever happens - they rest of the labour movement is behind you.

The locations and the employers' names may be different, but we're all in the same boat, facing the same challenges. Whatever we can do to help, we'll be there for you.

Good luck with your fight. And thank you for this opportunity to talk to you today. Solidarity!

EDMONTON - The Alberta Federation of Labour is formally lifting a union-led viewer boycott of A-Channel as workers at the station head back to their jobs today after a grueling five month strike.

"We are tremendously happy with the support that Edmontonians showed for the strikers during this long and often bitter dispute," says AFL president Les Steel.
"But now that a fair agreement has been reached, we want to send the message that the best way to continue supporting the workers is to tune into A-Channel and watch the programs they produce."

A-Channel workers in Edmonton walked off the job on September 17, 2003 after negotiations towards a first contract broke down. After months of tension between the workers and Craig Media, A-Channel's parent company, an agreement was finally reached in mid February.

"It took a long time, but the workers eventually got almost everything they were looking for, including reasonable raises and a pay grid that recognizes experience," says Steel.
"But the real key to winning this strike was the support the workers received from rank-and-file union members and members of the broader community. We asked Edmontonians to stop watching A-Channel during the strike - and viewership for the station dropped by half. We're convinced that this was what really paved the way for a settlement."

In addition to the union-led viewer boycott, Steel says the labour movement demonstrated solidarity with the striking workers by raising about $40,000 for the strikers and their families during the Christmas season and another $15,000 at a special fund-raiser last Friday night.

The money raised at last week's fundraiser will go to a handful of strikers who lost their jobs permanently as a result of a management decision to transfer some tasks to its station in Calgary.

"Obviously, we're saddened that not all of the strikers are going back to work - and we're doing what we can for those workers," says Steel. "But, at the end of the day, this is really a hopeful, even inspiring story. It sends the message that, if they stand together, workers and members of the community can derail the agendas of even the largest corporations."

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For more information call:

Les Steel, AFL President   @ 780-483-3021 (wk) 780-499-4135 (cell)
Gil McGowan, AFL Communications @ 780-483-3021 (wk) 780-910-1137 (cell)

The Alberta Federation of Labour reacted with disappointment early today after the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench ruled there wasn't enough evidence to proceed with a case against the Labour Relations Board.

In particular, the court said it was unconvinced that the Labour Relations Board had acted inappropriately when it came to its handling of the provinces controversial new health care labour law, Bill 27.

"The court basically rejected our arguments that the government had exercised inappropriate influence over the LRB when it came to drafting and implementing Bill 27," says AFL president Les Steel.

"But, frankly, we in the labour movement don't feel reassured. We are not any more confident today than we were yesterday that the deck hasn't been stacked against health care workers."

Steel points out that the judge saw merit in the court challenge which was brought forward by the United Nurses of Alberta, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union and several other labour organizations. In fact, the court said the unions raised reasonable doubt about the role of both the government and the LRB.

"But the real problem was lack of evidence," said Steel. "The government simply refused to disclose all the relevant documents. They have been hiding behind the Freedom of Information Act. And that's what really made it difficult for us to make the case."

With that in mind, Steel said the AFL and other unions would proceed with a number of FOIP appeals aimed at getting more information about communication between the government and the LRB.

"The bottom line is that our system of labour relations can only work if workers and unions have trust in the impartiality of the LRB. For many of us, that trust simply isn't there right now," says Steel. "So we will continue doing everything we can to make sure the referee in labour relations doesn't take sides. Workers need to have confidence that the deck isn't being stacked against them."

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For further information, contact: Les Steel, AFL President  at 780-499-4135 (cell)