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This is someone's livelihood and it's best to proceed with caution and with clear process. That's where unions -- and negotiated collective agreements -- can be a real benefit to an employer, as well as offering real protection to workers.

This issue has come to media attention recently concerning the case of Edmontonian Maia Soukonnik, who was killed by her mentally disturbed adult son in 2008. She had called 911, but the call was lost and the dispatcher may not have followed up. The dispatcher was dismissed and the Edmonton Police Association has filed a grievance against the dismissal. The issue will now go to an arbitration panel.

Any potential job dismissal will likely have boss and worker on edge, acting and reacting emotionally, with feelings sometimes overwhelming logic.

A case with tragic overtones such as this one is a perfect example and will also include outside observers and the public in those sentiments.

This is exactly why unions and employers work so hard to craft precise and clear terms, agreed upon by both sides at a time when heads are clear and emotions are calm. These policies act as a map through a minefield that allows the correct decision to be made.

The usual language in collective agreements concerning dismissal is that it must be for "just cause." It's a simple enough concept. Did the worker do something worthy of losing his job? Is dismissal justified?

A recent article by lawyer Howard Levitt in The Journal's Working section said that the "just-clause" requirement is one way unions erode employer control over the workplace.

This is far from the truth and it is disturbing to see a lawyer practising in the field so misrepresent the principle.

The just-cause element of collective agreements simply spells out the test to ensure that the employer's decision to terminate the worker is justified -- that it is a fair and reasonable response to what has happened. An employer who wants to be fair will welcome this.

If these conditions are met, the employer can relax in the knowledge that a difficult decision has been taken cautiously and that it was the right decision, not one based on anger or fear.

Employees, meanwhile, know that with this kind of process in place, they do not face the prospect of being unjustly fired and that they and their co-workers will be treated fairly.

The rigour applied to the process allows employer and employees to establish what really happened and in certain cases make changes to policy or procedures to avoid similar situations in the future. Instead of a war zone, a calm process allows for a successful resolution.

Unions are stakeholders in the workplace. They make sure that terms and conditions of employment reflect the needs and desires of the workers. They help workers feel secure and appreciated. A happy worker is, after all, a productive worker. A contract that reflects their needs encourages employees to apply and to stay put. Smart employers will recognize this and work with their unions.

Levitt's suggestion, to record all minor workplace errors, even for mistakes that may be fairly common, and his claim that workers would lie and that their unions would encourage such a thing creates a war-zone mentality.

Modern labour-relations policies recognize that these approaches are likely to create a toxic and unproductive workplace atmosphere and make having a union painful for the employer.

Levitt's advice to employers is to make the union and employees their enemy.

Although that might be good for his business, I suggest it isn't good for employers, their employees or their businesses.

Nancy Furlong is secretary-treasurer of the Alberta Federation of Labour and has been a full-time labour-relations professional since 1980. She has spent many years presenting arbitrations on behalf of unions in the Alberta labour relations community.

Edmonton Journal, Wed Jan 19 2011
Byline: Nancy Furlong

• There were 226 reasons that the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada was celebrating on New Year's Day. That's the number of new members it has, after the Alberta Labour Board confirmed on January 1 that Bee Clean workers at Suncor in Fort McMurray had voted to join CEP Local 707. For more information ...

• Twenty years of bad decisions on tax and royalty policy by successive Conservative governments have left our province's vital public services extremely vulnerable to under-funding. But our broken revenue system can be fixed. That's the theme of the latest edition of Union magazine. Read the online version of the magazine. Get a free subscription to the print version

Victory for the Fighting 99

• The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local Lodge 99, has won a battle at the Labour Relations Board. The case was about the employer, Finning, creating a subsidiary, OEM, and inviting the employees to join the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC). The Labour Board decided that this was unfair and that there needed to be an opportunity for the Machinists to keep the group. Over the next few months a run-off against CLAC will occur. For more information...

NUPGE and CLC commit to examine raiding issue

• The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) have agreed to continue working together on the issue of raiding. A statement from NUPGE said: "We commend the leadership of CLC affiliates for the commitment they have made to find a resolution to a practice that destroys labour unity." For more information ...

Urgent Action

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Hockey Day in Little Buffalo

• The federal and provincial governments have dropped the ball when it comes to dealing fairly with the Lubicon Cree. Now it's time for us to drop the puck - at the new hockey rink in Little Buffalo. The AFL Human Rights and International Solidarity Committee's Operation Hockey has raised funds to build a rink to benefit the Lubicon Cree youth. The rink opens with a big match on February 6th. To join in the celebration, contact the AFL at 780-483-3021 or email [email protected]. For more information on the Lubicon Cree issue ...

Events

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February 4 - Deadline for nominations for 2011 AFL International Women's Day Award
February 6 - Hockey rink opens in Little Buffalo as part of AFL's Project Hockey to benefit the Lubicon Cree youth
February 11 - Deadline to register for AFL Equity Conference (February 25 and 26). Note: Room block cut-off date is January 26; registration deadline is February 11.
February 18 - Deadline to register for 2011 Edmonton and District Labour Council School (www.edlc.ca)
February 20 - UN World Day of Social Justice
February 21 - Alberta Family Day
February 25 - Deadline for nominations for 2011 AFL May Day Solidarity Award
February 25-27 - 2011 Edmonton and District Labour Council School (www.edlc.ca)

Did you know ...

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• More than half the cost of natural gas used by oil sands extractors is paid for by taxpayers, according to thetyee.ca.
• 88 per cent of Albertans didn't think we were getting our fair share of revenue from the oil industry, according to a Calgary Herald/Edmonton Journal poll in 2007.
• 58 per cent of Albertans (including two-thirds of Progressive Conservative Party supporters) were opposed to the March 2010 cuts in royalty rates, according to the Calgary Herald.
• The Alberta government aims to capture 50-75 per cent of the oil industry's financial surplus, or "rent," but has failed to capture even the minimum amount almost every year in the last decade.
• Corporate profits in Alberta have soared in the last two decades from $3,635 per capita in 1989 to $15,050 in 2008 (adjusted for inflation).
• Since 2001, Alberta has cut its corporate tax rate to 10 per cent from 15.5 per cent, making the lowest in Canada and depriving the Alberta treasury of $1.1 billion annually.
For more information ...

EDMONTON - Two men are dead after farm machinery they were transporting came in contact with an overhead power line Thursday evening.

Occupational Health and Safety sent investigators out to the accident, but they left shortly afterwards without conducting a full investigation. The deaths happened on a farm, and farms aren't covered under Alberta's workplace safety laws.

Alberta is the only province in Canada where farm workers are not covered in some capacity by workplace legislation.

Minister of Employment and Immigration Thomas Lukaszuk said agriculture is an unusual industry where home life and the workplace meet.

"It's an industry where often there is no payroll," he said. "It's an environment where people actually live."

He said that makes it difficult to enforce OHS laws, because you have to sort recreational accidents from work-related ones.

Lukaszuk said he looked at other provinces where such legislation exists and found it's rarely enforced. He said it's more important to get the industry on board with safety practices than to lay charges after injuries or deaths occur.

He said his department is consulting with people at all levels of the agricultural industry to find out what sorts of laws will suit everyone best, instead of putting blanket legislation in place.

Gil McGowan, Alberta Federation of Labour president, called the current lack of protection for agricultural workers outrageous.

"All these arguments about the family farm ring hollow," he said. "There was a time when Alberta's agricultural sector was dominated by small family farms, but that time has passed. The sector is now dominated by large, multinational companies. To say those companies should be given special exemptions because they're small farms is simply ludicrous."

The men who died Thursday were transporting a grain auger from a grain truck on a farm leased by B&R Ranch Ltd. near Meridian Street and Ellerslie Road. The machinery snagged an overhead power line and the men, ages 54 and 62, were electrocuted, police said in a news release.

In a typical workplace fatality, OHS investigators interview witnesses and gather evidence, reconstructing the incident piece by piece. If someone dies while using machinery, a stop-use order is often placed on the machine. Sometimes work is stopped on the entire site.

Once the investigation is finished, officials determine whether the occupational health and safety act was violated, and whether charges should be laid. The resulting employer and industry track records are searchable and available online at http://employment.alberta.ca/apps/er/ERSearch.html.

McGowan said without investigations and enforcement, there's no impetus for farm owners to enforce or adhere to safety standards.

"These ongoing exclusions send the message that farm workers are second-class citizens," he said.

The names of the victims are not being released.

Edmonton Journal, Sat Dec 4 2010
Byline: Conal Pierse

Edmonton - The death of two Edmonton area farm workers is proof that Alberta's workplace safety laws need to be extended to include agricultural workers, says the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL).

"It is simply absurd that investigators from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety were dispatched to investigate the death of these two workers, but had to abandon the investigation and leave the site when they discovered this happened on a farm," says Gil McGowan, president of the AFL, which represents 140,000 workers.

"Today's farms are industrial workplaces just like any other - as this accident involving large equipment and power lines shows," he says.

Alberta remains the only province that maintains 19^th century rules 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. In the nine years the Alberta government has said it is consulting on how to improve safety for agricultural workers, 160 people have died on farm worksites.

"This is clear evidence, if any more were needed, that the government's decision last week to focus on education and training to improve farm and ranch safety is completely inadequate," says McGowan. "It's time the government acted on the recommendations made by Justice Peter Barley in 2008, while investigating another death, that farm workers be included in Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)."

The government, bowing to the powerful agribusiness lobby, has instead set up an industry dominated advisory council to look into enhancing education and training, says McGowan. "This council will be an industry-dominated joke," he says.

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Media Contact:

Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour @ 780-218-9888 (cell)

Two men are dead after an accident on a farm in southeast Edmonton.

Emergency crews responded to the scene at 3:30 am on Friday in the area of Ellerslie Road and Meridian Street where they discovered the bodies of two men.

A grain auger the men had been working on came in contact with an overhead power line, electrocuting both of them.

A neighbouring farmer reported the incident to 911.

The names of the two victims have not been released, but according to police they are 62 and 54 years of age.

Edmonton police are investigating, but say the incident is non-criminal.

The Alberta Federation of Labour says the incident shows that Alberta's workplace safety laws need to be upgraded to include agricultural workers.

"It is simply absurd that investigators from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety were dispatched to investigate the death of these two workers, but had to abandon the investigation and leave the site when they discovered this happened on a farm," Gil McGowan, president of the AFL, which represents 140,000 workers said in a written release.

"Today's farms are industrial workplaces just like any other - as this accident involving large equipment and power lines shows," he said.

Alberta is the only province where farm workers are not covered by 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.

Global News Saskatoon, Fri Dec 3 2010
Byline: Lauren Reid, Karyn Mulcahy

Two men, aged 62 and 54, were electrocuted when the grain auger they were moving hit an overhead power line near Ellerslie Road and Meridian Street. They were found early Friday morning.

The federation's president Gil McGowan points out farmers are not covered under Occupational Health and Safety or the Workers' Compensation Board. He says it's time for change.

"This is an argument that the Alberta government has been making for years, that you, quote, 'can't over-regulate' the family farm," says McGowan. "In reality, most of the people working in the agricultural sector are not working for family farms, they're working for big agri-business."

Even though OHS staff members were called to the scene, they were not able to do their job.

iNews880, Fri Dec 3 2010

The Alberta government announced on Tuesday the creation of a new farm safety advisory council, but the move was immediately panned by those who believe the government has already waited too long to enact legislation to protect agricultural workers.

"No matter how they try to dress it up, this announcement proves the government of Alberta is not willing to stand up for the rights of agriculture workers," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

However, Agriculture Minister Jack Hayden said the new advisory council, with representation from safety organizations, municipalities, agricultural organizations and workers themselves, will examine a number of options -- without overregulating or increasing the financial burden on small farm operations. Primarily, the council will look at farm safety education and training, and recommend an action plan to government.

"We need to have the primary producers and the people who are actually in the industry tell us what is going to be the most effective, so that at the end of the day we're not complicating peoples' lives, we're saving them," Hayden said.

The minister said one of the issues the advisory council will look at is whether some agricultural operations should be covered by provincial occupational health and safety legislation if they are primarily a "commercial or an industrial operation, and not an actual primary producer operation."

But McGowan argues it's now large agribusiness that dominates the farm industry -- and needs solid workplace safety rules -- not small family farms.

Last year, 13 Alberta farm workers died on the job.
Alberta is the only province in Canada that exempts farm operations from worker safety laws.

Provincial court Judge Peter Barley took exception with this exclusion in his January 2009 fatality inquiry report on the 2006 death of farm worker Kevan Chandler at Tongue Creek Feeders near High River.

"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," Barley wrote in his report.

Barley recommended that paid farm workers, excluding family members, should be included in legislation governing workplace safety.

The judge's recommendations prompted the government to order a consultation on farm safety, hiring Camrose-based Stroh Consulting to canvass farm organizations and other business groups.

That consultant's report, released by the agriculture department on Tuesday, found that farming is one of the riskiest occupations in Canada and organizations representing workers "say their members feel unprotected and demand some changes."

It also found agriculture is a rapidly changing business, with challenges including employee retention, and language barriers in employing some foreign workers.

The report makes a number of recommendations, including for the government to research what is being done in other provinces, and consider including contractors "carrying out non-agricultural work on farms" under the province's occupational health and safety legislation.

Richard Truscott of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said he is encouraged by the direction the government is moving in, but hopes the advisory group includes actual farmers.

"It's important they hear directly from farmers themselves," Truscott said.

The members of the advisory council will be determined in the new year, government officials said.

Calgary Herald, Wed Nov 24 2010
Byline: Kelly Cryderman and Renata D'alisio

Edmonton - The Alberta government announcement that it is forming an advisory council on farm safety is a stab in the back for all farm workers, says the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"Once again, the government has chosen to waste a real opportunity to improve working conditions on farms and ranches," says Gil McGowan, president of the AFL, which represents 140,000 workers. "Once again, the government has chosen to listen to the agribusiness lobby and ignore the voices of working people, of safety advocates and even a provincial judge."

The move to create a council to advise the government on how to "enhance farm safety education and training" is an empty gesture. The government says the council will be co-chaired by industry and government, but no leadership role is given to workers or their advocates - the people whose lives are on the line.

"This council will be an industry-dominated joke. Following on Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk's refusal to act on recommendations to increase minimum wage, it shows just how little the minister is willing to do for our most vulnerable workers. Much like Energy Minister Ron Liepert's advisory committee on energy policy, it shows who really calls the shots in this province - big-business pressure groups," says McGowan.

Alberta remains the only province that maintains 19^th century rules 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. In the nine years the Alberta government has said it is consulting on how to improve safety for agricultural workers, 160 people have died on farm worksites.

In 2008, after being asked by the Premier to investigate the workplace death of Kevan Chandler, Justice Peter Barley recommended that farm workers must be included in Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to prevent future workplace injuries and deaths.

"Rather than take that obvious and simple step, we have an industry-dominated advisory body looking at education measures! It is completely inadequate and an absolute failure by the province to protect agricultural workers," says McGowan. "This is what you get when governments talk only to the business community and not to workers."

The government claims that work-related protections, such as employment standards and occupational health and safety rules, will punish family farms. That argument is not based on fact. Large agribusiness dominates the industry. Farms with income over $250,000 accounted for three-quarters of farm cash receipts in 2007.

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Media Contact:

Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour @ 780-218-9888 (cell)

A group of University of Alberta janitors spelled out their complaints against Bee-Clean Building Maintenance in front of a crowd of about 80 concerned students, professors, and labour group members on Tuesday.

Bee-Clean is the contractor responsible for janitorial services at the U of A, but many of the complaints brought forward by the janitors have been disputed by the company.

Justice for Janitors, a movement within the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is seeking to represent the janitors at the U of A who work under Bee-Clean. One former Bee-Clean employee who spoke at the meeting, Gilbert Coy, was working at the U of A as a janitor to send money back to his family in the Philippines. Coy claims that Bee-Clean fired him for supporting the unionization of U of A janitors, along with another former Bee-Clean employee, Tarik Accord.

"The first time they saw my picture [in a union brochure], my supervisor called me and said 'is this your picture.' I said yes, and he said 'I'll give you time to think a bit, and if I were you, I'd quit the union,' " Coy said. "They gave me a chance to quit, but I didn't quit."

"The pressure is really difficult. That's why I'm here, I need to provide the needs for my family. I have three kids."

Outside the meeting, two Bee-Clean representatives passed out letters explaining the company's concerns with what was termed "misinformation [that] has been circulated about the employment of Bee-Clean service workers at the University of Alberta."

One of the complaints that had previously been raised was that Bee-Clean had neglected to pay their employees for overtime work. According to the letter, this was not intentional.

"Due to an administrative error, some employees were not paid properly for overtime work, some were underpaid, and some were overpaid," the letter read, which was signed by Bee-Clean President Brian Gingras.

The representatives at the meeting wouldn't comment further on the matter and asked that all matters be referred to higher management. When contacted, Robert Scott, the Regional Director of Bee-Clean, said that the allegations against Bee-Clean were "categorically untrue" and that the company was suing the union for defamation.

"We absolutely did not fire any of our employees for joining a union, [or] for making contact with a union," Scott said. "It's really important to note, I think, that there are two independent reasons that those employees are no longer with us. First, one employee unfortunately was involved in a physical altercation on campus."

"The second employee had only been working with us for two days and didn't show up for work one day [...] She asked for a different workload at the time and we couldn't offer her one. Unfortunately, we had nothing else to give her, and that's why she no longer works for us."

When previously contacted by The Gateway, the U of A said that they wouldn't get involved in an ongoing labour dispute.

Some university staff who attended the event voiced their displeasure with the administration's current stance.

Marco Katz, a doctoral student and an English and Film Studies instructor, called the university's position "extraordinary."

"We scream for justice everywhere in the world, but we're not going to talk about justice for the people who are in our offices and in our hallways?"

Terry Inigo-Jones, from Alberta Federation of Labour, echoed Katz's sentiment. He attended the meeting and was impressed by what the workers were doing given the situation, and had particular praise for the Temporary Foreign Workers.

"It's remarkable that people who are only here for a short period of time will make this commitment, take this risk, and fight for the rights of people who will come after them for very little benefit for themselves. They're not going to be here that long, so that's just a remarkable stand."

Gateway Online, Thurs Oct 21 2010
Byline: Simon Yackulic

• More than three quarters of Canadians support increasing Canada Pension Plan benefits, according to a new national survey released today by Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Public Service Alliance of Canada. For more information ... To learn more about the campaign for pension reform and events being organized by the Alberta Federation of Labour and Canadian Labour Congress, go to ...

Why the right wins ... and how we can stop them

• Albertans have a long history of electing right-wing governments. This has seriously affected the quality of our public debate and hampered our efforts to unionize and represent workers. How can progressives slay this political giant? To find out how, the AFL is bringing in George Lakoff, the communications mastermind behind the U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama. For more details ...

Drop undemocratic changes to Alberta's health laws

• Friends of Medicare has launched a campaign to persuade Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky to abandon plans to change provincial health laws, after a legal opinion commissioned by the AFL said the proposals were "not consistent with a democratic society." For more information ...

• Send a letter to Zwozdesky ...

Government's safety records website gets failing grade

• Alberta's new website offering workplace injury and fatality records may be well intentioned, but presents only a bewildering array of statistics and little useful information for workers, says the AFL. For more information ...

Urgent Action

• A group of janitors at the University of Alberta is suing a cleaning company for tens of thousands of dollars, claiming that overtime money has not been paid. The janitors, many of whom are temporary foreign workers, say they have been threatened with deportation by their employer, University of Alberta contractor Bee Clean Building Maintenance. Show your support at an event at the University of Alberta, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19, Education Building Room 106, University of Alberta North Campus. For details of the event ... For information and to sign a pledge in support of the workers, go to http://www.j4jatuofa.org/

Events

• October 25, 2010 - CLC Pension Campaign Lobby Training Session, Edmonton

• October 28/29, 2010 - George Lakoff Lecture/Workshop, Edmonton

• November 5-7, 2010 - AB New Democratic Convention, Red Deer

• November 16, 2010 - AFL Lobby Day, Edmonton

• November 19-21, 2010 - Parkland Fall Conference, Edmonton

• November 27, 2010 - AFL Pension Summit, Edmonton

• December 5, 2010 - AFL Women's Committee Commemorative Brunch, Edmonton

Did you know ...

• 26% drop in spending on environmental monitoring, compliance, and enforcement. Alberta spent $27 million on monitoring, enforcement, and compliance programs in 2003. Budget 2010 projects Alberta Environment will spend $20 million this year.
• 54% increase in spending on public relations since 2003. The Communications line for Alberta Environment grew from $717,000 in 2003 to $1.1 million for 2010.
• 57% increase in spending by the Minister, Deputy Minister, and Communications from a combined total of $1.4 million in 2003 to a projected $2.2 million in 2010.

For more information ...