ALF V1

EDMONTON - Today's news that Maple Leaf Foods is abusing temporary foreign workers at its poultry plant in Edmonton and attempting to use them as pawns to drive wages down is yet another demonstration of the failures of the temporary foreign worker program.

It's also an indictment of campaigning federal politicians who won't even acknowledge that a problem exists, says the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"The Temporary Foreign Worker program is run by the federal government - but not a single one of the federal leaders has made problems in the program an issue in this campaign," says Gil McGowan.

"Instead, the issue is being driven under ground, just like these workers. It's a dark and ugly corner of federal bureaucracy that deserves to have some light shed on it. I can't think of a better time to do that job than during an election campaign. Unfortunately, people like Prime Minister Stephen Harper don't seem to agree."

Earlier today, the union representing striking workers at the Maple Leaf poultry plant released information showing that many of the 98 temporary foreign workers in the plant were promised wages of $15 - only to receive much less when they actually started working.

The union also said the company was housing as many as 17 temporary workers in individual duplexes and that more TFWs were brought in as a strike was looming in an obvious (and illegal) effort to undermine the bargaining position of the union and the workers it represents.

"This strike highlights the dangers of the temporary foreign worker program," says McGowan. "Workers are brought in by companies like Maple Leaf to work in unacceptable conditions, at low wages, and these workers are frightened that if they complain, they will be deported."

Despite their precarious situation - and the fact that they are obviously being used as pawns to keep wages low - McGowan points out that over 80 of the TFWs at the plant are actively supporting the strike.

McGowan says that if precarious workers such as these can find the courage to stand up and speak up, then surely our federal leaders could do the same.

"We're in the final week of a federal election campaign and we need an open and public debate to address the failures of this program," says McGowan. "The political parties need to take a stand and tell voters how they will prevent the creation of a permanent underclass of guest workers in Alberta and Canada."

In a further effort to pressure the federal parties to start talking about Canada's TFW problems, the AFL has joined with its national counterpart, the Canadian Labour Congress, to recognize October 7 as the World Day for Decent Work (www.wddw.org), which is being marked with activities across the globe.

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For more information call:

It was only a matter of time.

Whenever the economy heats up, business people reward themselves with bigger salaries and hefty bonuses.

"We've earned it," they tell themselves as they put orders in for the latest BMW status symbol or the newest gas-guzzling monster SUV.

But when ordinary, wage-earning workers begin asking for a bigger piece of the pie, they're usually denounced as greedy, selfish and short-sighted.

Over the past few months, this old double-standard has re-surfaced with a vengeance in Alberta.

As groups of unionized workers - from nurses and paramedics in the public sector to construction and energy workers in the private sector - have tabled aggressive contract positions, a wounded cry of protest has gone up from corporate boardrooms and the business press.

One prominent columnist described unionized Alberta construction workers as among the most "coddled" in the world and called their wage demands "absurd."

A short time later, a well-known business professor and an influential energy industry analyst both warned darkly that the wage demands being advanced by Alberta workers threaten to drive up inflation, undermine our province's "business-friendly" reputation and scare away oil sands investment.

One B.C.-based construction boss went so far as to say that unionized workers were "holding a loaded gun" to the head of Alberta's economy and that all workers (not just "essential" public sector workers) should be stripped of their right to strike.

In the face of these kinds of verbal assaults, some working people might start wondering if, just maybe, the bosses are right. But they shouldn't allow themselves to be sucked in by all the hype and mock indignation.

The truth is that the wage increases being sought (and won) by unionized Alberta workers have been reasonable, fair - and entirely appropriate.

In most cases, unions have been asking for increases of between five and seven percent a year. This might be out of line in other provinces, where the cost of living has been increasing by only about 2 percent annually.

But in Alberta, inflation shot up by more than five percent in the first six months of this year - and in June it rang in at a whopping 6.3 percent over the cost of living in June 2006. That's three times higher than the national average.

In this climate, wage increases of anything less than five or six percent represent a cut in real taken home pay and purchasing power.

Given the unprecedented growth in the Alberta economy - and the fact that inflation adjusted wages have remained essentially flat for the past fifteen years - is it unreasonable for workers to aspire to something more than simply treading water?

If the working middle class can't get ahead during a boom, when exactly can they?

As far as claims go that wage increases will drive up inflation or discourage investment, two things need to be said.

First, growing unionized wage demands haven't caused Alberta's overheated economy - they've been a response to it.

If the only way the boom can be sustained is by convincing workers to take cuts to their inflation-adjusted take-home pay, then the boom is probably not sustainable.

Second, threats about "capital flight" are over blown. Even factoring in rising costs for things like labour and building materials, the Conference Board of Canada projects that the Canadian oil industry is on track to $12.6 billion in profits this year - not a record, but still very healthy.

What really determines whether energy companies invest in Alberta is not labour costs - it's global demand and international prices for oil.

As Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams recently demonstrated, in a world of rapidly disappearing "cheap" oil and galloping demand from monster economies like China and India, energy companies will (however reluctantly) pay more for the privilege of exploiting publicly-owned energy resources.

Oil executives may bluster and rattle their sabers - some of them may even take their balls and leave the sandbox for short periods. But as long as we have the resource that the world wants under our feet, they'll be back.

Having said all that, union members and leaders agree that inflation is a real concern for Albertans. It bites into both corporate profits and individual workers' standard of living.

But it's not workers who are causing the problem - they're just trying to avoid being swamped by the rising economic tide.

The real cause of overheating in the Alberta economy is the decision by energy companies to develop an unreasonable number of oil sands projects at once - and the decision by the provincial government to stand passively on the sidelines and simply let that happen.

If our leaders in government and business really want to tame the excesses of the Alberta economy, then what we need - as former Premier Peter Lougheed has urged - is a plan to regulate the pace of development so that it doesn't outstrip the ability of our labour force or community infrastructure to handle the growth.

We also need rules to ensure that upgraders and refineries are built here - as opposed to having valuable "down-stream" jobs shipped down pipelines along with our oil to destination in the U.S.

Left to their own devices, energy companies will never do this - none of them will voluntarily move to the back of the line. And none of them will willingly put the Alberta public interest ahead of their narrow corporate self interest. Only government can effectively play the role of referee, traffic cop and steward of the public interest.

Unfortunately, our barely visible premier, Ed Stelmach, has made it clear he has no plans to "touch the brake" or address the energy industry's Wild West approach to development.

This stubborn refusal to stand up for the public interest may cause the Alberta's economic house of cards to come tumbling down. But let's be clear - that collapse will be the result of business and government policy failures, not the result of wage demands from workers.

So what's my advice to working people as they return from the Labour Day long weekend? Don't be afraid to use the power that the market is giving us to drive hard bargains and grab the biggest piece possible of Alberta's growing economic pie.

As market-loving business people might admit themselves, smart people take advantage of market conditions to get the highest possible returns. The labour market is a market like any other, so we'd be suckers if we fell for corporate guilt trips and missed out on this opportunity to make gains.

It was only a matter of time. Whenever the economy heats up, business people reward themselves with bigger salaries and hefty bonuses.

"We've earned it," they tell themselves as they put orders in for the latest BMW or gas-guzzling monster SUV.

But when ordinary, wage-earning workers begin asking for a bigger piece of the pie, they're usually denounced as greedy and short-sighted.

Over the past few months, this double-standard has re-surfaced with a vengeance in Alberta.

As groups of unionized workers -- from nurses and paramedics in the public sector to construction and energy workers in the private sector -- have tabled aggressive contract positions, a wounded cry of protest has gone up from corporate boardrooms and business press.

One prominent columnist described unionized Alberta construction workers as among the most "coddled" in the world and called their wage demands "absurd."

Calgary Herald, Page A23, Sat Sept 1 2007
Byline: Gil McGowan

A well-known business professor and an influential energy industry analyst both warned darkly that the wage demands being advanced by Alberta workers threaten to drive up inflation, undermine our province's "business-friendly" reputation and scare away oilsands investment.

One B.C.-based construction boss went so far as to say that unionized workers were "holding a loaded gun" to the head of Alberta's economy and that all workers (not just those deemed "essential") should be stripped of their right to strike.

In the face of these kinds of verbal assaults, some working people might start wondering if, just maybe, the bosses are right. But they shouldn't allow themselves to be sucked in by all the hype and mock indignation.

The truth is that the wage increases being sought (and won) by unionized Alberta workers have been reasonable, fair -- and entirely appropriate.

In most cases, unions have been asking for increases of between five and seven per cent a year. This might be out of line in other provinces, where the cost of living has been increasing by about two per cent annually.

But in Alberta, inflation shot up by more than five per cent in the first six months of this year -- and in June it rang in at a whopping 6.3 per cent over the cost of living in June 2006. That's three times higher than the national average.

In this climate, wage increases of anything less than five or six per cent represent a cut in take-home pay and purchasing power.

Given the unprecedented growth in the Alberta economy -- and the fact that inflation-

adjusted wages have remained essentially flat for the past 15 years -- is it unreasonable for workers to aspire to something more than treading water?

If the working middle class can't get ahead during a boom, when exactly can they?

In response to the claim wage increases will drive up inflation or discourage investment, two things need to be said.

First, growing unionized wage demands haven't caused Alberta's overheated economy -- they've been a response to it.

If the only way the boom can be sustained is by convincing workers to take cuts to their inflation-adjusted take-home pay, then the boom is probably not sustainable.

Second, threats about "capital flight" are overblown. Even factoring in rising costs for things like labour and building materials, the Conference Board of Canada projects that the Canadian oil industry is on track for $12.6 billion in profits this year -- not a record, but very healthy.

What really determines whether energy companies invest in Alberta is not labour costs -- it's global demand and international prices for oil.

As Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams recently demonstrated, in a world of rapidly disappearing "cheap" oil and galloping demand from monster economies like China and India, energy companies will (however reluctantly) pay more for the privilege of exploiting publicly-owned energy resources.

Oil executives may bluster and rattle their sabres -- some of them may even take their balls and leave the sandbox for short periods. But as long as we have the resource the world wants, they'll be back.

Having said all that, union members and leaders agree that inflation is a real concern for Albertans. It bites into both corporate profits and individual workers' standard of living.

But workers are not causing the problem -- they're just trying to avoid being swamped by the rising economic tide.

The real cause of overheating in the Alberta economy is the decision by energy companies to develop an unreasonable number of oilsands projects at once -- and the decision by the provincial government to stand passively on the sidelines.

If our leaders in government and business really want to tame the excesses of the economy, then what we need -- as former Premier Peter Lougheed has urged -- is a plan to regulate the pace of development so that it doesn't outstrip the ability of our labour force or infrastructure to handle the growth.

We also need rules to ensure upgraders and refineries are built here -- as opposed to having valuable "downstream" jobs shipped down pipelines along with our oil to the U.S.

Left to their own devices, energy companies will never do this. And none of them will willingly put the public interest ahead of their corporate self-interest. Only government can effectively play the role of referee, traffic cop and steward of the public interest.

Unfortunately, our barely visible premier, Ed Stelmach, has made it clear he has no plans to "touch the brake" or address the energy industry's Wild West approach to development.

This stubborn refusal to stand up for the public interest may cause Alberta's economic house of cards to come tumbling down. But let's be clear -- that collapse will be the result of business and government policy failures, not wage demands.

So what's my advice to working people?

Don't be afraid to use the power that the market is giving us to drive hard bargains and grab the biggest piece possible of Alberta's economic pie.

Smart people take advantage of market conditions to get the highest possible returns. The labour market is a market like any other, so we'd be suckers if we fell for corporate guilt trips and missed out on this opportunity to make gains.

Calgary Herald, Sat Sept 1 2007
see also Edmonton Journal, Mon Sept 3 2007
By Gil McGowan
AFL President

Edmonton - The Alberta Federation of Labour is highly critical of the Molson Coors shut-down of its Edmonton plant announced yesterday afternoon.

"The American-based Coors Molson Company is closing a profitable, efficient, award-winning plant with no consideration of long-term employees here in Alberta," says AFL President Gil McGowan. "Their loyalty and hard work apparently means nothing to the American operators but numbers on a ledger sheet."

"So next time Albertans hear the 'I am Canadian' rant on a Molson ad - don't believe it," says McGowan. "With the lay-off of the last Alberta Molson workers, there is little reason for Albertans to drink Molson products."

McGowan was also critical of the removal of inter-provincial trade barriers that has allowed the Canadian brewing industry to collapse.

"This plant closure is part of an ongoing series of shut-downs of breweries in the province," says McGowan. "The collapse of the Alberta brewing industry and the loss of hundreds of good jobs is the other side of the drive to free trade between provinces that the Alberta government so strongly endorses."

McGowan points out that Alberta and other Canadian provinces each had thriving brewing industries when regulations prohibited the transport of beer across provincial boundaries.

"Molson alone used to have three breweries in Alberta," says McGowan, "But as of today there is only one major plant left - the Edmonton Labatt Brewery."

"Albertans have lost great jobs with no real gain in consumer prices," says McGowan. "Where is the benefit to the province in that product of free trade?"

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan   AFL President  @  780.218.9888

CALGARY -- This may be the summer of unrest in the West, as thousands of municipal and forestry workers have walked off the job in British Columbia and thousands more tradespeople and paramedics in Alberta have voted to strike.

The labour disputes come amid red-hot economies in both provinces, which have driven up corporate profit and the cost of living along with it.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said that nobody (employers especially) should be surprised by the demands for wage increases coming on the heels of almost two decades of recession, budget cuts and stagnant pay.

"Now we find ourselves in the boom, so workers are doing exactly what should be expected: They are trying to get their fair share of the growing economic pie," he said.

"If workers can't make substantial gains during economic boom times like we're currently enjoying in Alberta, when can they?"

Yesterday, the debt-free Alberta government moved to quash the discontent among Calgary's more than 400 emergency service workers, who pledged to hit the picket lines tomorrow after an overwhelming 99 per cent of members voted to strike.

Alberta Employment Minister Iris Evans said the cabinet declared a public emergency to avert the strike and will announce a tribunal to force both sides into an agreement.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents paramedics, pointed out that its Calgary workers make less than their counterparts in Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg, where inflation is not nearly as pronounced.

Meanwhile, B.C.'s $2-billion-a-year coast forest sector is at a standstill as 7,000 logging and sawmilling workers represented by the United Steelworkers set up picket lines on the weekend.

The union and industry are dug in over several issues, including shift scheduling and contracting out.

Coast forest workers last went on strike for three weeks in 2003. An arbitrated settlement that took effect in 2004 gave employers, among other things, more leeway in assigning shifts.

Companies say they can't give up flexibility on that front, asserting that market conditions - including a soaring loonie and a limping U.S. housing market - have only worsened in the interim.

The union says that employers are putting workers' health and safety at risk and that industry has failed to live up to promises to reinvest in the sector.

Most observers expect that strike to last the summer.

At the same time, about 6,000 civic workers in Vancouver and North Vancouver began job action last week in their bid to seal a new contract. Library staff in Vancouver launched rotating job action yesterday while garbage piled up and public washrooms were left untended.

A major issue is the length of contracts. The city wants a 39-month deal to run through the 2010 Winter Olympics, but union officials prefer a contract that won't leave them to bargain in a potential post-Olympic environment of cost overruns and cuts.

Relief may be coming to the suburb of Richmond, B.C., where about 1,200 union members reached a tentative deal yesterday, which will be put to a vote tomorrow.

However, labour officials in Alberta also confirmed that a massive majority of electricians, millwrights, pipefitters, boilermakers and refrigeration mechanics, who are members of five unions primarily involved in oil sands and construction projects, have voted to walk off the job.

The historic strike vote - the first in a quarter-century under the province's restrictive labour legislation - is aimed at kick-starting negotiations for the 25,000 workers, said Barry Salmon, a spokesman for the unions.

Wages and "quality of life" issues, such as work-camp conditions and the long commute for workers to Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, are the key issues, Mr. Salmon said. So is the length of wage contracts during a boom with no end in sight.

"There are members that are hesitant about accepting a wage offer for the year 2011," Mr. Salmon said, "Traditionally, wage contracts have been two years. This one, all the contractors for all the unions offered four. ... What's the cost of living going to be in 2011?"

Already this month, Alberta's nurses signed on to a three-year deal that would make them the highest-paid workers in their job category in Canada.

The province offered wage increases of up to 9.1 per cent more next year as a way to compensate for the soaring cost of living as well as to help with recruitment and retention.

The Alberta Federation of Labour's Mr. McGowan said any wage increases under 6 per cent would be a decrease in real take-home pay.

"If you pay people, they will come," he said.

The Globe And Mail, Page A8, Wed July 25 2007
Byline: Dawn Walton

CALGARY -- Five oilsands construction unions have voted overwhelmingly to strike, in a move that could halt work at oil-sands projects in Fort McMurray, Alta., as early as next week.

The results of the July 4 votes were presented to the Alberta Labour Relations board on Monday. Once certified, 72-hour strike notice could be served as early as Friday, said Barry Salmon, a spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 424, based in Edmonton.

"These are rather overwhelming mandates," he said. "Historic is a word that's used far too often, but that's what this is -- historic."

The five unions -- boilermakers, plumbers and pipe fitters, electrical workers, millwrights and refrigerator mechanics - held simultaneous ballots in Calgary, Edmonton and Fort McMurray earlier this month, the first such votes in almost three decades.

The electrical workers voted 94 per cent in favour of strike action, while the boilermakers and plumbers voted 99 per cent and 97 per cent, respectively, in favour. Millwrights were 90-per- cent supportive, while refrigeration mechanics came in at 85 per cent.

At issue are quality-of-life issues as opposed to wages, Salmon said. Journeyman electricians make about $35 an hour, for example.

"It just shows the level of frustration among trades," Salmon said. "We want a contract, not a strike. This is all about getting back to the table."

In addition to oilsands projects, a walkout could threaten big public-works projects that use union labour.

The unions have been without a contract since May 1. Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan described the votes as "unprecedented," in light of the province's existing labour law, which critics have complained is overwhelmingly biased in favour of contractors.

Consequently, there have been no strike votes under the legislation since it was enacted in the early 1980s.

"Alberta's labour code was deliberately written to make it impossible for construction unions to go on strike," McGowan said. "These workers are sending a very strong message, and employers ignore it at their peril."

Mark Friesen, an oilsands analyst at FirstEnergy Capital Corp., said the labour unrest is another layer of ambiguity in an oilpatch already grappling with a government-sponsored royalty review and skyrocketing capital costs.

He's not surprised the unions would vote in favour of walking off the job. However, he held out hope strike action could be averted.

Vancouver Sun, Page D9, Tues July 24 2007
Byline: Shaun Polczer

Edmonton - The Alberta Federation of Labour will be watching the compulsory binding arbitration process forced upon Calgary paramedics by the government.

"When the government established a public emergency tribunal, it effectively took the right to free collective bargaining and the right to strike away from the paramedics," says AFL President Gil McGowan. "It is now the responsibility of the government to ensure that the paramedics get the same level of settlement they would have won had their rights not been amended."

"We are not convinced that a fair settlement is possible through compulsory binding arbitration," says McGowan. "One of the more recent studies comparing freely negotiated contracts with compulsory arbitration awards for teachers found that negotiated contracts had statistically significant larger wage increases."

He was referring to a 2006 study by the Connecticut General Assembly that analyzed settlement methods for municipal and school employees over a 4-year period. In that study, 410 teacher contracts were examined.

"The problem is that arbitration boards tend to be very conservative in their awards," says McGowan. "Arbitration boards can never lead - they can only follow."

McGowan noted that the only real evidence before arbitration boards is past settlements - while future developments remain entirely speculative. Therefore, arbitration boards can never break new ground or properly accommodate periods of rapid growth or high inflation like Alberta is experiencing today.

McGowan also cautioned the government about the effects of a compulsory settlement that did not meet paramedics' economic needs. "There will be long-term labour relations consequences if an unfair settlement is forced upon paramedics," says McGowan. "Higher turnover and lower morale and productivity could be a real problem with an unfair contract."

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan   AFL President   @ 780-218-9888

Edmonton - The Alberta Federation of Labour today sent Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry Iris Evans a letter asking her not to step blindly into the paramedics' dispute in Calgary.

"There is a lot more at stake here than the City of Calgary's budget," says AFL President Gil McGowan. "We urged the Minister not to use government powers to keep paramedics on the job."

"Our position is that having and occasionally using the right to strike is the only way workers can gain fair contracts," says McGowan. "The experience of the labour movement in Alberta has been that binding arbitration has consistently failed to meet any standard of fairness for workers."

"If, despite our best advice, the Minister overrides paramedics' basic rights, then we will be holding both the settlement process and the people involved to close scrutiny," says McGowan.  "The Minister needs to absolutely ensure that any settlement realistically deals with the current labour market conditions and cost-of-living increases in Calgary."

"Anything less would simply constitute the province tying workers' hands at the bargaining table and shielding the City of Calgary from the consequences of its unrealistic bargaining strategies," says McGowan. "With its lowball bargaining, the City seems to be trying to pretend that the housing crisis and overall inflation are not a serious problem for City employees - or that the hot labour market doesn't exist."

"In our communication with the Minister, we provided her with four good reasons not to intervene," concludes McGowan. "We can think of no good reason for her to do so."

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan   AFL President   @ 780-218-9888

Letter to Minister Evans

July 20, 2007

The Honourable Iris Evans
Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry
#208 Legislature Building
10800 - 97 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6
Fax: (780) 422-9556

Re: Government response to Calgary Paramedics Dispute

Dear Minister Evans:

I write to urge you and your government not to use the powers of your office to either force Calgary paramedics back to work or to prohibit them from striking in the first place. Specifically, I ask you not to make use of a Disputes Inquiry Board or Public Emergency Tribunal.

Overriding workers fundamental right to strike is a very serious step. Such actions contravene the most basic of United Nations labour protocols and strip working people of their only effective means of counteracting arbitrary and unfair employer bargaining positions and workplace behaviour.

If the City of Calgary is assured that you will instantly step in to prohibit strike action by their paramedics, they have little reason to alter their bargaining to a more realistic position since they will not be facing any consequences. This disincentive to bargain creates a very uneven playing field for the paramedics.

The inevitable consequence of this uneven playing field in bargaining - where you have essentially disarmed one party but not the other - is bound to be lower wages and benefits for paramedics than the current labour market and cost-of-living increases in Calgary warrant.

You will essentially be forcing the public employees involved to subsidize the general public by working for lower than deserved wages. This is an unfair burden for any group of workers to shoulder.

Furthermore, simply legislating workers back to work with a contract that the majority does not support is an ill-advised step in terms of good labour relations. The loss of productivity due to a drop in morale in these circumstances is both predictable and inevitable. In such cases there is also a high likelihood of higher staff turnover, which will increases training costs and decrease the overall skill level of the workforce and the quality of work done.

It has been the experience of the Alberta labour movement that compulsory binding arbitration has not resulted in fair settlements or properly addressed workers' issues.

I have provided you with four very good reasons not to take the right-to-strike away from Calgary paramedics. The alternative is to shield the City of Calgary from its own failure to bargain realistically in today's economy.

Yours truly,

Gil McGowan
President

CC: Lieutenant Governor in Council, Mayor Dave Bronconnier

[Edmonton] With Alberta facing a growing number of labour disputes, the Alberta Federation of Labour said today that it's time for employers to take a reality check before they enter negotiations.

"We face the prospect of two strikes in the province this week," notes AFL President Gil McGowan, "a public sector strike by transit workers in Calgary and a private sector strike by brewery workers in Edmonton."

"In both cases, the employers have come to the table looking for thinly disguised concessions from workers. At Molson it's two-tiered wage and benefit systems, and in Calgary it's a shift towards lower paid shuttle bus jobs," says McGowan.

McGowan says employers have to get their heads around the idea that concession demands won't fly - and don't make sense - during economic boom times.

"The Alberta economy is booming, inflation is seriously eroding everyone's earning power, employers everywhere are saying how hard it is to attract and retain new staff - but both the Molson Coors Brewing Company and the City of Calgary pretending the new economic realities of Alberta don't count at the bargaining table."

"Employers across the province should take a long look at the consequences of living in that kind of dream world," says McGowan. "Both CAW Local 284 at the Molson Edmonton brewery and ATU Local 583 representing Calgary transit workers are either taking strike action or are on the verge of taking strike action - with the full support of the province's labour movement."

"I urge these employers to take their unrealistic concession demands off the table and to begin negotiating the level of settlement workers need and deserve in an economy with a 5% inflation rate, an unemployment rate at 3.4% and no end to the boom in sight," concluded McGowan.

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan, AFL President at 780.218-9888 (cell)

Seizing the Time: Collective Bargaining in a Boom Economy (May 2007)

Policy paper adopted at AFL 45th Constitutional Convention, May 10-13, 2007