ALF V1

Issue:

The Government of Alberta has introduced two deeply anti-union bills. These bills were introduced without warning and without consultation. Bills 45 and 46 target public sector wages and the right to collective bargaining and are steps toward Tea Party-Style right to work laws.

Bill 45, or the “Public Sector Services Continuation Act,” infringes on protected rights, such as the right to freely associate and free speech. Under the bill any person could be fined $500 for making a “strike threat” anywhere, any time.

Bill 46, or the “Public Service Salary Restraint Act” would impose a legislated wage freeze on Alberta’s public sector workers. An imposed “wage freeze” would amount to an unfair rollback as public sector workers stand to lose at least 6.1 per cent of their pay cheques to inflation. This legislation is not only uncalled for and unfair, it's likely unconstitutional.

For more information, please contact Ishani Weera, AFL Organizer at 780.483.3021 or [email protected]

Frequently asked questions on Bills 45 and 46

Edmonton – The Redford wage freeze breaks promises and breaks laws.

The legislation, which the government tabled on Wednesday, will ignore the bargaining rights of hundreds of thousands of Albertans and impose a wage freeze. This is a government tactic that has been repeatedly struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada.

"Alison Redford was elected on a promise that she wouldn't attack public sector workers. She's broken that promise and almost every other election promise she made just 18 months ago," Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. "We will see her in court and we will see her at the ballot box."

Bills 45 and 46 will take away the right of unions to consult their own membership about possible labour action. Additionally, punitive measures can be taken against a whole union for the actions – or even words – of a single member.

The wage freeze will mean that workers wages will fall behind inflation. Over the course of three years, this will mean an effective drop in wages by about six per cent. The government of Alberta forecasts the province's real GDP to expand by 3.3 per cent this year and 3.5% next year. If the economy is growing, we should be able to treat public-sector workers fairly.

Repeatedly over the past decade, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Workers have a constitutional right to make collective representations and to have their collective representations considered in good faith.

"We are simply asking the government to not break the law," McGowan said. "It's one thing for governments to obtain a wage freeze through negotiations with unions and workers, it's another thing to impose those freezes without negotiation. Such legislation is unfair, unnecessarily provocative and almost certainly unconstitutional."

The government has suggested that the wage freeze is being imposed because of the cost of the devastating floods in Calgary and High River last spring and summer.

"They're paying for the flood damage on the backs of the people who cleaned up the mess," McGowan said. "We lauded these people as heroes just a few weeks ago. And now, Alison Redford is picking their pockets."

For more information on these bills and on collective bargaining download the AFL factsheets:

1) Breaking a promise and the law - rollbacks

2) Breaking a promise and breaking the law supreme court

3) Alberta economy booming

4) Breaking a promise and breaking the law - public sector wages

5) Breaking a promise and the law – public service stretched

6) Alberta has a revenue problem

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MEDIA CONTACT:

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

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File: G:\Communications\NEWS\AFL\2013\2013-50_Alberta Government breaks promises – and laws – with wage freeze legislation _2013Nov28.docx

Fact Sheet 2_Breaking a Promise and Breaking the Law-Supreme Court_2013_Nov27

2 of 6 fact sheets issued

Action Request: Stop The Wage Freeze Rally

When: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at 2:30 p.m.

Where: Legislative Assembly of Alberta 10800 - 97 Avenue NW, Edmonton

Issue:
The Government of Alberta has announced they will table anti-worker legislation this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Although the details of the legislation have been withheld from the public, it is expected to undermine collective bargaining by imposing a wage freeze on public sector employees, and to introduce extreme and punitive fines for wildcat strikes.

This rally will feature workers and elected representatives from across the union movement.

Please show up and fight for your right to collective bargaining.

For more information, please contact Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 or via email [email protected].

Fact Sheet 5_Breaking a Promise and the Law_Public Service Stretched_2013_Nov27

Fact Sheet 3_Alberta Economy Booming_2013Nov27

3 0f 6 fact sheets issued

2013 Fact Sheet 4_Breaking a Promise and Breaking the Law-Public Sector Wages

4 of 6 fact sheets issued

Wealthy Canadians Praise PM’s Promotion of Plutocracy

Calgary – Policies that are gutting the Canadian middle class are awesome, according to the nation’s ostentatiously wealthy.

At a rally at 1:00 p.m. sharp on Halloween (Oct. 31), affluent activists are gathering outside the BMO Centre in Calgary to thank 2013 Conservative Party of Canada Convention delegates for supporting policies that suppress wages, gut retirement security, and place an unfair burden on middle-class families.

“How could I enjoy my grotesque wealth if average people wouldn’t fight over the scraps from my table?” Canadians For Inequality campaign chair Remmington Smythe said. “We want to thank Stephen Harper for helping make so many Canadians so delightfully poor.”

Smythe, an entirely fictional character, will be played by Calgary-based actor Wally Houn at the protest, which is organized by the Alberta Federation of Labour, the province’s largest worker advocacy organization. Organizers have hired costumed actors to portray Canada’s 1%, who will be holding protest-style placards with lighthearted messages that take aim at Conservative Party policies.

“Our protest may only draw one per cent of the number that you would see at one of those proletarian rabble gatherings,” Smythe said. “But trust me, we have one hundred per cent of the voice.”

The event is intended to satirize how Canada’s governing party has made decisions in the interest of corporations and prosperous individuals, and lavished supporters with lavish perks such as seats in the Senate. Organizers say that policies they’re taking aim at include the expanded Temporary Foreign Worker program, the selling of Canadian natural resources to state-owned foreign firms, and the attack on unions.

“These are very serious issues, but we wanted to tackle them with humour, rather than anger,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “Sometimes satire is the best form of protest.”

Click here for formatted PDF of the release.

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Satirical protest parodies Prime Minister’s policy of plutocracy

At a rally at 1:00 p.m. sharp this Halloween, a satirical protest performance will take place outside the BMO Centre in Calgary. At the event, actors and volunteers will pose as extravagantly wealthy multibillionaires, and will thank 2013 Conservative Party of Canada Convention delegates for supporting policies that suppress wages, gut retirement security, and place an unfair burden on middle-class families.

The event is organized by the Alberta Federation of Labour, the province’s largest worker advocacy organization.

When:                 Thursday, October 31, 1:00 p.m. sharp

Where:                BMO Convention Centre, 12^th Avenue SE & 3^rd Street SE Calgary      

Who:                   Alberta Federation of Labour

                             (President Gil McGowan will be available for comment)

What:                  Satirical Protest

MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]

For more information, please contact:
Ishani Weera, AFL Organizing and Outreach Director at 780-218-7956  (cell) or via e-mail [email protected]