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EDMONTON _ The Alberta government is bracing for protests after introducing what critics are calling anti-union changes to the province's labour code.

Employment Minister Hector Goudreau has confirmed that extra sheriffs have been brought to the legislature this week in case of any unruly demonstrations.

The legislation bans strikes and lockouts for ambulance workers and prevents unions from subsidizing contract bids by unionized contractors competing with non-union firms.

The changes will also prevent union-supporting workers from joining a non-union company to kick start the process of unionizing the firm _ a practice known as salting.

NDP Leader Brian Mason says the legislation is an act of ''revenge'' for the union-sponsored attack ads used against Premier Ed Stelmach during the recent Alberta election campaign.

A spokesman for the Alberta Building Trades Council did not appear overly concerned by the legislation and says the practice of salting is nearly obsolete in the province.

But the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees reacted much more strongly, suggesting the legislation violates constitutional guarantees of freedom of association.

''This is what Conservatives do _ squeeze workers for the benefit of employers,'' federation president Gil McGowan said in a media release Monday.

''The Conservatives have long been anti-labour and this bill is their latest attempt to kick workers in the shins. They are simply using their new majority to exercise their anti-worker reflexes,'' he added.

McGowan also noted the bill has been timed to keep wages down during the province's economic boom.

Doug Knight of the provincial employees' union said the law ought to be changed so that there is one labour law for everyone, instead of the current system where there is a separate Public Service Employee Relations Act.

Knight said his union also wants other changes, like automatic certification without a vote when more than half the employees in a workplace sign union cards.

''Albertans are now seeing government that is willing to use its election majority to make drastic decisions behind closed doors,'' Knight said in a news release.

The EnergyNews.com, Wed Jun 11 2008

The Alberta legislature ended the spring session with the passage of controversial changes to the province's labour laws.

The Alberta government introduced Bill 26, the Labour Relations Amendment Act 2008, in the afternoon on June 2. After more than eight hours of debate, the bill passed at around 3:15 a.m. on June 5.

The new bill requires employees in the construction sector to have worked for an employer for 30 days, before participating in a union certification vote. Even when a union earns the right to certify, employees will have 90 days to reconsider their decision to join a union.

The government designed the new provisions to prevent salting - planting unionized workers on a construction site before a certification vote - as a union organizing tactic in the construction sector. The unions see Bill 26 as a ban on union organizing for short-term projects.

The creation of market enhancement recovery funds (MERFs), which were used by union contractors to submit more competitive bids for projects in relation to non-union contractors, has also been restricted.

"It was absolutely wonderful in terms of dealing with this issue. It has been a long time coming. From our perspective this has been studied and studied and recommended and recommended," said vice president of Merit Alberta, Bill Stewart, who was in the legislature for two days listening to the debate on Bill 26. "This is good news and its been a long time in coming."

According to Stewart, Merit was part of a government committee in 2002, which produced a report called Building A Labour Relations Code for the 21st Century.

"We (Merit) identified MERFing and salting as the two main problems in the construction industry," he said.

Opponents to Bill 26 are concerned about the pace at which the bill was passed by the legislature. They believe this process prevented proper consultation and debate on the issue.

"We knew they would ram it through. We were working with the opposition to continue the debate and try to force the government to explain why legislation was actually needed. There is no compelling reason why these changes had to be made," said president Gil McGowan, Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL).

"The challenge we face is that the government made a decision to hit us hard and fast, in order to limit our ability to respond before the legislation was passed. We had less than 72 hours to digest the legislation, contact our members and organize a response."

Stewart said he isn't concerned about the fast tracking of Bill 26, because these issues have been discussed by the industry for years.

"This is an outstanding issue. To suggest the government has sprung something on people, that they were not aware about, is not accurate," he said.

"They are cleaning up outstanding pieces of business and this is just some housekeeping they have acted on."

McGowan said he believes the main motivation behind the changes to the labour code was a desire by the government to help a close friend.

"This bill was a gift to non-union contractors, in particular, Merit Contractors Association, who have been pushing for these changes for at least five years," he said.

"Some say the bill is retaliation for the advertising campaign we ran during the last provincial election, but the roots of this bill run much deeper. Both Klein and Stelmach have been considering these changes for at least five years."

Stewart has a different view about how the legislative process works.

"We put our case to the government and the unions put their case to the government. At the end of the day, the government took our side," he said. "If Bill 26 is a reward and we are such good friends with the government, why did it take 15 years?"

For McGowan, the Conservative government is just doing what all Conservative governments do.

"The government is using their legislative power to stack a deal against the working people, by making it harder to organize and exercise the constitutionally protected right to join a union," he said.

The AFL is consulting with a lawyer, but no legal action can be taken until Bill 26 is fully implemented.

"We need a live issue. As soon as an employer uses this legislation to stop an organizing drive, we will challenge this bill under the charter," he said. "We don't know how long it will take to get an appropriate case."

Journal of Commerce, Wed Jun 11 2008
Byline: Richard Gilbert

In the wee hours of the morning, the Alberta government passed new legislation which it says will improve the province's labour code, but critics claim it is an attack on the basic rights of workers.

The government passed Bill 26, the Labour Relations Amendment Act 2008, only three days after introducing the legislation.

The bill states that employees in the construction sector must have worked for an employer for at least 30 days in order to participate in a union certification vote.

The government designed the new provisions to prevent salting - planting unionized workers on a construction site before an election vote - as a union-organizing tactic in the construction sector.

"The rebalancing measures contained in Bill 26 will help ensure a competitive and stable labour relations regime exists for construction companies. These measures are desperately needed as the province moves forward developing the oil sands and building much needed infrastructure projects," said Stephen Kushner, Merit Contractors Association president, before the legislation was passed.

"While a handful of internationally affiliated craft union locals use unfair organizing practices and bid subsidy schemes, the impacts can have devastating consequences in critical trade areas such as carpentry, electrical work, plumbing and pipefitting."

In sharp contrast to this view, a spokesperson for the labour movement in Alberta said he believes that Bill 26 is designed to benefit employers at the expense of organized labour.

"The big winners from this proposed change in the labour code are the big non-union contractors under the banner of Merit. This is a gift from the government to them. These changes will tilt the playing field further in their favour," said Gil McGowan, Alberta Federation of Labour president, shortly after the legislation was introduced.

"This is not about fairness, because the government is squeezing unionized construction firms out of Alberta."

Merit argued that Bill 26 will promote fairness in the construction industry and would give more democratic control to construction workers during unionization elections.

"The proposed changes simply level the playing field in terms of acceptable organizing and bidding activities and leave critical decision making in the hands of individual employees rather than union leaders. What could be more democratic?" Kushner said.

The AFL argued that Bill 26 is intended to make it almost impossible for construction workers to express their democratic right to join a union.

"The issue of salting is a straw man the government is using as an excuse to ram through these draconian measures, which make it more difficult for workers to join a construction union," said McGowan.

"Many construction jobs last for less than thirty days and many construction workers make a living moving from one short term contract to another. The new legislation is saying these sites can't be organized and these workers can't unionize."

"Bill 26 also gives employees 90 days to reconsider their decision to join a union.

"Even when a union earns the right to certify, employers will have 90 days to have workers change their minds and revoke the certification," McGowan said.

"We all know that employers will use this period to beat up and discourage workers from becoming union members. This should be called a 90-day intimidation period."

Journal of Commerce, Mon Jun 9 2008
Byline: Richard Gilbert

Amendments to the Alberta's new labour relations code are causing a stir among some labour groups.

Bill 26, introduced in the legislature by Employment Minister Hector Goudreau on Monday, strips ground ambulance services of their ability to strike during labour disputes and restricts union "salting" techniques aimed at organizing non-union workshops.

The bill, approved early Thursday morning, requires labour disputes for ground ambulance services to be settled through mandatory arbitration, an amendment that prevents threats to public safety, Goudreau said.

To restrict "salting," the bill would require employees to work for an employer at least 30 days before voting on certification and would allow 90 days for employees to reconsider their vote.

Doug Knight, president of the Alberta Union of Public Employees said Bill 26 violates Charter rights that give people the right to strike as part of the negotiating process and cited a Supreme Court ruling last June that said freedom of association includes the right to bargain a collective agreement.

"If it ever went to court the government would lose," Knight said of potential challenges to the bill.

He said the amendment to the labour code that allows people to reconsider certification votes could subject employees to harassment from employers looking to reverse the results of tight certification votes in their favour.

But Goudreau said the amendment allows employees to weigh the pros and cons of their certification vote allowing employees relief from regret, similar to buyers remorse.

"It's to allow a sober second thought," Goudreau said during a phone interview on Wednesday.

Market enhancement recovery funds (MERFs) collected through union dues and used by union contractors as a bidding tool would also be restricted under the bill.

Bill Stewart, vice president of Merit Contractors Association, said MERFs limit the ability of non-union contractors, especially those limited in size to bid competitively with unionized contractors.

Unionized workshops with access to MERFs can bid on contracts without factoring in labour costs, Stewart said. He added that smaller non-unionized contractors can't compete with the $10-15 per hour difference in costs that can mean a difference of several thousand dollars per contract.

"It can have a huge impact on who gets the work."

He said he is pleased the government is regulating an unregulated practice.

"What this (Bill 26) is doing is putting a window around and saying 'this is permissable, this is not.'"

Gil McGowan of the Alberta Federation of Labour called Bill 26 a gift to anti-union groups from the Conservatives in a press release and named Merit as one of those groups.

"This bill is about rewarding your friends in the construction industry at the expense of fairness and the well being of thousands of construction workers," he said.

On Tuesday, the government moved to limit debate on the bill to seven hours during the committee stage.

Both the Liberals and the NDP blasted the Tories' decision to limit debate.

"The Tories are ramming this legislation in the dying days of the session to scuttle public debate," Liberal leader Kevin Taft said in a news release.

Goudreau said there was plenty of opportunity to debate the bill in first and second readings.

"If you review Hansard and if you review the comments you will notice that they're basically saying the same thing over and over again."

Goudreau said if you consider debate in first, second and third readings as well as debate before committee, plenty of time has been allowed for debate.

Fort Saskatchewan Record, Fri Jun 6 2008
Byline: Paul Grigaitis

The Alberta government is bracing for protests after introducing what critics are calling "anti-union" changes to the province's labour code.

Employment Minister Hector Goudreau has confirmed that extra sheriffs have been brought to the legislature this week in case of any unruly demonstrations.

The legislation bans strikes and lockouts for ambulance workers and prevents unions from subsidizing contract bids by unionized contractors competing with non-union firms.

The changes will also prevent union-supporting workers from joining a non-union company to kick start the process of unionizing the firm - a practice known as salting.

NDP Leader Brian Mason says the legislation is an act of "revenge" for the union-sponsored attack ads used against Premier Ed Stelmach during the recent Alberta election campaign.

A spokesman for the Alberta Building Trades Council did not appear overly concerned by the legislation and says the practice of salting is nearly obsolete in the province.

But the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees reacted much more strongly, suggesting the legislation violates constitutional guarantees of freedom of association.

"This is what Conservatives do - squeeze workers for the benefit of employers," federation president Gil McGowan said in a media release Monday.

"The Conservatives have long been anti-labour and this bill is their latest attempt to kick workers in the shins. They are simply using their new majority to exercise their anti-worker reflexes," he added.

McGowan also noted the bill has been timed to keep wages down during the province's economic boom.

Doug Knight of the provincial employees' union said the law ought to be changed so that there is one labour law for everyone, instead of the current system where there is a separate Public Service Employee Relations Act.

Daily Commercial News and Construction Record, Thurs Jun 5 2008

The Alberta government is bracing for protests after introducing what critics are calling anti-union changes to the province's labour code.
Employment Minister Hector Goudreau has confirmed that extra sheriffs have been brought to the legislature this week in case of any unruly demonstrations.

The legislation bans strikes and lockouts for ambulance workers and prevents unions from subsidizing contract bids by unionized contractors competing with non-union firms.

The changes will also prevent union-supporting workers from joining a non-union company to kick start the process of unionizing the firm, a practice known as salting.

The Alberta Federation of Labour opposes the changes as does the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

CHQR Newsroom, Tues Jun 3 2008

Government officials are so concerned about the potential for strife over changes to Alberta's labour code that they have beefed up security at the legislature.

"We expect individuals to come and voice their displeasure with what we're doing," said Alberta Employment Minister Hector Goudreau Monday.

Goudreau said extra sheriffs have been brought in this week, but he would not provide any details.

"We're trying to minimize conflicts by just being more on the cautious side."

The changes announced to the labour code Monday are the first in 20 years. Among other things they will ban strikes by ambulance workers and prevent unions from subsidizing contract bids by unionized contractors competing with non-union firms.

The new legislation will also prevent union organizers from joining a non-union company to kick-start the process of unionizing the firm - a practice known as "salting."

CBC News , Tuesday, June 3, 2008

EDMONTON - The Alberta government moved swiftly today towards passing controversial labour code amendments, despite ongoing criticism from labour groups.

Just before debate started on Bill 26, the government made a motion to limit time spent on the matter. Opposition parties accused the government of stifling its opponents.

An NDP press release said the government was jamming the bill through the legislature "in time to hit the golf courses and barbecue circuit."

Liberal Hugh MacDonald said the sooner the government passes the bill, the less chance they will face opposition. "It's restricting and limiting public debate on a public bill," MacDonald said. "They want to steamroll this through and they do not want people get organized to oppose this legislation."

Conservative MLAs argued that opposition members will still have plenty of time to make their case during the seven hours the bill is in committee.

"What argument cannot be made by the opposition members within their allocated 30 or 40 minutes?" Tory Neil Brown asked.

A spokesman for the premier's office said they are hoping to have the bill passed by the end of the week, but are prepared to go into next week if the opposition prolongs the debate.

Union leaders continued to bash the bill, which was introduced Monday. It bans ambulance workers from striking and puts limits on so-called "salting" and "MERFing" practices.

Salting is when a union employee or sympathizer gets a job at a non-union workplace in order to organize workers or disrupt the company's operations. Unions argue the practice is rare, but contractors' associations say it is fairly common.

Market Enhancement Recovery Funds, or MERFs, are used by unions to help union contractors win bids. They are used, for example, to help employers provide benefits or higher salaries to their workers. The government has argued these funds distort the marketplace and harm non-union shops.

Stephen Kushner of the Merit Contractor's association says it's about protecting workers from unwanted salting practices and protecting non-union shops from unfair bidding.

"It's long overdue," he said. This morning, union leaders met for about 30 minutes with Employment Minister Hector Goudreau. They emerged unhappy. "The minister called us together not to hear our concerns or consider our suggestions, but rather to tell us the way things were going to be," said Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan.

McGowan said the bill isn't about making the market more fair or about worker choice. "What it's really about is tilting the playing field even further in favour of the merit contractors and other friends of the government."

Elisabeth Ballermann, the president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, said the government did little or no consultation with unions. She said the bill does nothing but hurt working people.

"There's nothing there but stripping away workers' rights, whether it's construction workers, ambulance workers, et cetera, et cetera," Ballermann said.

The NDP and others accused the government of hitting back at unions who bankrolled an advertising campaign last election attacking the government.

Goudreau said it was a hot issue on the hustings during the last election, particularly after the ads began to air.

"The ad campaign triggered a pile of discussions as we knocked on doors. They were saying why would they do that? So part of that enhanced that type of discussion. Now that's not the only reason. We've been talking about salting and MERFing for seven or eight years."

Speaking to reporters in Calgary, Stelmach said the bill came up now not because of revenge, but because the government finally had time to do it.

"I'm taking a bunch of issues off the backburner," Stelmach said. "There was only so much I could do in the first 14 months."

Debate continues today.

Edmonton Journal, Tues Jun 3 2008
Byline: Archie McLean