Tag Archives: Alberta Premier Alison Redford

Shhh! Don’t utter the word "strike"

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Dec 5, 2013 by PressProgress

Has the Progressive Conservative government in Alberta outdone the federal Conservatives when it comes to the rights of workers?

New labour laws in Alberta don’t just strip the right of members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees to arbitration. Going forward, provincial employees also “won’t even be able to talk about a strike or a disruptive labour action that could be seen as leading to a strike.

“If there’s a hint of a work stoppage, just a puff of smoke from a shop floor, the union will have to forfeit $1 million a day, unless it can convince the court it didn’t encourage the strike talk from locals or random militants,” explains Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid.

Braid is talking about what he characterises as an “exceptionally vague ban on ‘an act or threat to act that could reasonably be perceived as preparation for an employees’ right.'”

Don’t be surprised if this provision makes its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, though. “It’s hard to imagine a more blatant violation of free speech,” Baird writes.

Just down from the street from the top court in Ottawa, the Conservatives are poised on Friday to pass a giant omnibus budget implementation bill that also takes a whack at workers’ rights.

The Conservative government stuffed the 322-page bill with amendments to 50 separate laws, most of which have nothing to do with budget implementation.

They include 60 amendments to the Canada Labour Code, including a watered down definition of danger to make it harder for workers to refuse dangerous work, and new rules to appeal the definition.

Twenty-three amendments to the Public Service Labour Relations Act are also in the bill, including deleting the existing definition of “essential” and replace it with one described as anything that the government in its “exclusive right” determines is or will be necessary for the safety or security of the public.

Photo: movetheclouds. Used under a Creative Commons BY 2.0 licence.

New ‘Orwellian’ legislation would make it illegal to call for public sector strikes in Alberta

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Jen Gerson | 04/12/13    http://news.nationalpost.com

AUPE members in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge join together with allies from across the labour movement to protest Bill 45 and 46 on December 2, 2013, in front of the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton.    Greg Southam/Edmonton JournalAUPE members in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge join together with allies from across the labour movement to protest Bill 45 and 46 on December 2, 2013, in front of the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton.

CALGARY — Alberta Premier Alison Redford’s government is set to pass a bill that restricts union leaders — and, critics say, ordinary citizens as well — from calling for public sector strikes, under threat of fines of up to $1-million a day.

The legislation’s perceived attack on free speech has created odd allies, uniting the Alberta Federation of Labour and the right-wing Wildrose party.

“It’s Orwellian, is what it is,” said Gil McGowan, the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour. “Redford is suggesting that her government should act as the thought police.”

Expected to pass third reading on Thursday evening, Bills 45 and 46 would strip the Alberta Union of Public Employees (AUPE) the right to binding arbitration (strikes were made illegal in the late ’70s).

The bills also bar unions, their leaders, third parties — and, it is feared, ordinary Albertans — from counselling any kind of strike under threat of fines ranging from $500 to $1-million per day.

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“These bills go way too far over the line,” said Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson. Wildrose supports increasing penalties for union leaders who organized illegal strikes, but opposes proposals to remove binding arbitration and place limits on freedom of speech.

“I think this is going to get turfed [by the courts]. This law has all the hallmarks of poor legislation. It is very vague on what is meant by the ‘threat of an illegal strike.’ It impinges on freedom of speech in unnecessary ways,” he said.

Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk disagreed with this characterization of the bill, saying that, in the context of previous labour legislation, fines could only be levelled against those who have the authority to counsel a strike — bloggers, columnists, citizens and ordinary low-level union employees need not fear punishment.

Mr. Lukaszuk said previous legislation has already decided who has the authority to “counsel” a strike; someone like Mr. McGowan, if he acted in an organized way, could be fined up to $500 if it were proven he were orchestrating an illegal strike, Mr. Lukaszuk said.

We usually see this kind of language in a context where the underlying offence is serious, like inciting property damage or a riot

However, the bills would not affect “employees who simply express their frustration with the employer,” he said. “If indeed [the Labour Relations Board] found a person was in a position to counsel and had the authority and it resulted in an illegal strike, then, yes, this law would apply.”

Carissima Mathen, a constitutional law expert and assistant professor at the faculty of law at the University of Ottawa, called the bill overly broad and “ripe for challenge.” The courts have a record of recognizing the complexity of union negotiations, and leaders need to have the ability to discuss their tactics, she said.

“We usually see this kind of language in a context where the underlying offence is serious, like inciting property damage or a riot,” she said.

The bills, which will affect upcoming negotiations with AUPE, will effectively enforce a four-year contract with workers that will see nominal wage increases, Mr. McGowan said. He expects the same approach to be levelled on nurses and other public sector unions.

“If Redford rams through these pieces of legislation [on Thursday], it will usher in a generation of poisoned labour relations in Alberta,” he said. “If she continues governing this way and behaving this way towards citizens and members of Alberta’s broader civil society, she’ll be the last PC premier in Alberta’s history … she has shattered the progressive coalition that elected her in the last election.”

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