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Poll released in advance of Airport Board meeting shows Wood Buffalo residents want outsourcing plan grounded

Fort McMurray – More than 89 per cent of Wood Buffalo region residents oppose the Fort McMurray airport’s plans to outsource cleaning and security services to a firm that hires Temporary Foreign Workers.

The poll comes in advance of a meeting of the Fort McMurray Airport Authority Board on Tuesday, where they will vote on the plan. If the plan goes ahead, dozens of local Canadian workers would be laid off – many of whom have worked for the airport for years.

“If they go ahead with this, they’ll be turning good jobs into bad jobs,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “It’s no wonder people in the community oppose this plan. It’ll be a blow to the economy – and to the community – if it goes ahead. And it comes at a time when the economy is already reeling from low oil prices.” 

The poll showed that Fort McMurray residents don’t just overwhelmingly oppose the plan, they are willing to take concrete action to show their displeasure about the destruction of Canadian jobs. More than 62 per cent said that if the plan went though, they would sign a pledge to take one fewer flight out of that airport every year. A further 74 per cent said there would be electoral consequences for members of council who had a hand in the plan going through.

“People in Fort McMurray have seen these TFWP shell games before, where a company gets rid of good jobs and brings in a contractor to get the same work done with exploitable and underpaid temporary foreign workers,” McGowan said. “What’s different this time is that it’s being done by an organization that is supposedly answerable to the public.”

The plan was put forward by Fort McMurray Airport Authority CEO Scott Clements. The poll showed that more than 54 per cent of residents would like to see him fired for trying to destroy local jobs. 

“The Temporary Foreign Worker program has had a direct impact on just about everyone in this community,” McGowan said. “Whether it’s your friend, your neighbour, if you live in Fort McMurray, you probably know people who have been put out of work, had their wages slashed, or had problems completing an apprenticeship because of the TFW program.”

Environics - Fort McMurray Airport Survey Results - PDF 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)          
or via e-mail [email protected]

Former Director of Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Rolf Wiborg Addresses AFL Convention

CALGARY – The former head of the Norwegian government’s oil directorate is speaking in Calgary on Friday, April 17.

Rolf Wiborg, who has four decades experience in Norway’s oil industry – both for private companies and as a Norwegian regulator – will address the Alberta Federation of Labour’s biennial convention in the Calgary Convention Centre at 10:35 a.m. Wiborg will speak about the need for a publicly-owned energy corporation to champion value-added development in the oil sands.

"You have to give up this idea that someone else has the right to tell you what to do with your resources or how your society should run," Wiborg said, noting that ensuring Canadians collect a fair share from the oil resources they own will take political will. "It can be done, but do the Canadian people have the power and the will? Do they have the collectiveness and guts to do it?"

Who:         Rolf Wiborg, former Director of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate

Where:    Calgary Convention Centre (120 – 9th Ave. S.E. Calgary)

                   South Building - McLeod Hall

When:      10:35 a.m., Friday, April 17, 2015

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

Delegates to AFL convention wonder: will the power of working people finally trump the power of the wealthy and well-connected?

CALGARY – Leaders from most of Alberta’s major unions will gather in Calgary this week, in the midst of a provincial election campaign in which their main issues have suddenly become pivotal and their preferred candidates are set to make major gains.

We’ve been saying for nearly a decade that Alberta has a tax and royalty system that overwhelmingly favours big corporations and the wealthy,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said on the eve of the AFL’s biennial convention. “Suddenly our issues and proposals for reform are being talked about by thousands and thousands of voters and many of the party leaders. To say that we’re excited and hopeful would be an understatement.

The AFL’s 2015 convention – titled “Dream No Little Dreams” – starts Thursday morning, April 16, and wraps on Sunday, April 19. The event is being held at the Calgary Convention Centre (South Building- McLeod Hall).

Highlights of the Convention include:

• AFL president Gil McGowan will address the convention about the AFL’s cheeky and much-discussed Better Way Alberta campaign, which many observers agree has “primed the pump” for the current debate that’s raging on corporate taxes.
  Thursday, April 16 – 10:40 a.m.

• Dr. Alex Himelfarb, the former Clerk of the Privy Council (the top bureaucrat for the federal government), whose new book, “Tax is NOT a four-letter word”, makes the case for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for quality public services.
  Thursday, April 16 – 2:30 p.m.

• Childcare Resource and Research unit director Martha Friendly will make the case that Canada needs a national child care program.
  Friday, April 17 – 9:30 a.m.

• Former director of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate Rolf Wiborg will present a case for a publicly-owned energy corporation to champion value-added development in the oil sands. Wiborg, a petroleum engineer with more than 40 years working in Norway’s oil industry, is a leading expert in managing petroleum wealth.
  On Friday, April 17 – 10:35 a.m.

• Former Canadian ambassador to the UN Stephen Lewis will speak about the upcoming Federal election, and make the case for why Canadians need to rise up against Stephen Harper and take their country back.
  On Saturday, April 18 – 2:10 p.m.

Delegates will also debate plans for helping progressive candidates “get over the top” in the current provincial election campaign.

This is a crucial moment for working people. We think ordinary citizens in this province have finally reached the point where they’re ready to say: "enough is enough" McGowan said. This is shaping up to be the election we’ve all been waiting for: the election in which the power of working people finally trumps the power of the wealthy and the well-connected. At our convention, we’re going to make sure we do everything we can to take advantage of this historic opportunity.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

Better Way Alberta campaign site will be shuttered to comply with law that 'undermines free speech'

Edmonton – The Alberta Federation of Labour will be forced to shut down its Better Way Alberta website once the writ is dropped to start the provincial election campaign, which is widely expected to happen tomorrow.

The decision is the result of an opinion provided to the Federation by Alberta's Chief Electoral Officer, Glen Resler, over the weekend.

"Basically, they've ruled that the videos that act as the cornerstone of the BWA website need to be deemed as third-party advertisements," AFL president Gil McGowan said.

"But, it's absurd to put websites in the same category as paid TV, radio or social media advertisements. They're passive; they're only viewed by people who want to view them. It's like telling people what they can and cannot read," Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. "Imagine if the government went into a library and started pulling books off the shelf that they said shouldn't be read during an election campaign. People would be outraged. But that's exactly what they're doing in this case."

The Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act (EFCDA), which regulates third-party spending during elections, imposes heavy fines on groups that disobey the act's overly complicated and onerous rules.

The Alberta Federation of Labour, which is not allowed to register as a third-party advertiser under the rules, is complying with the legislation. The Federation will, however, consider legal recourses such as launching a Charter challenge against the Elections Act on the grounds that it violates the right to free speech guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"We are not necessarily opposed to restrictions on third-party advertising during elections. The government's goal when they introduced the current Elections Finance Act was to stop organizations with deep pockets from flooding the airwaves during campaigns – and we support that goal," McGowan said. "However, they've gone too far when they start telling advocacy groups that they have to shut down their websites."

The EFCDA says that any piece of text, audio or video that has been paid for by anyone other than a political party and that is designed to persuade the public on issues related to government policy will be deemed political advertisement for the purposes of the Act. That means that many documents produced by organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business could be seen as campaign advertisements.

"Yet, it's only the Better Way Alberta campaign – which calls for increased taxes on corporate profits instead of cuts to public services – that is being shut down. That's a double standard," McGowan said. "And it leads me to believe that this law isn't really about protecting the public interest and the sanctity of elections; it's about muzzling individuals and groups who disagree with the government."

Launched in early March, the Better Way Alberta website has been visited by almost 50,000 Albertans. The campaign's YouTube videos have been viewed in excess of 370,000 times. The petition, which asks the government to reform the province's revenue system through progressive taxes, corporate taxes and fair royalty rates, has been signed by 6,500 people. The BWA campaign leaflet was mailed to more than 1.2 million Alberta homes.

"Clearly our message has struck a chord with Albertans," McGowan said. "I encourage as many Albertans as possible to visit the website, and share the content before it gets taken down when the election period starts – possibly as early as tomorrow."

The Federation of Labour is sending a letter asking for the Premier to intervene and to provide an assurance that he will not prosecute the AFL or any other advocacy group for content posted on their websites.

-30-

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)

or via e-mail [email protected]

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