Labour Code Changes an Attack on Worker Rights

On June 2, 2008, the Conservative government tabled Bill 26: The Labour Relations Amendment Act. It was the first amendment to the Alberta Labour Code in 20 years. And it was the latest anti-worker attack from this government. Less than three days later, the government forced the Bill through the Legislature and adjourned for the summer. There was no chance for debate, public input or any serious chance to reconsider the latest Conservative reduction of workers' rights.

The Bill stripped two groups of workers of basic democratic, constitutionally-protected rights. It rewarded the government's friends and made it harder for legitimate unions to organize workers.

Bill 26: Stripping Rights Away 

The amendments do three things to attack worker rights:

1. Restricts the rights of construction workers to choose union representation. In the name of banning so-called "salting", the bill prohibited workers who have worked for a construction company for less than 30 days from participating in a certification vote. It also gives 90 days following the vote for workers to "change their mind" about joining the union.
2. Outlaws employer-paid wage-subsidy funds negotiated between employers and building trade unions. Market Enhancement Recovery Funds (MERFs) are a srategy employed by construction employers and unions to help unionized contractors win bids against non-union contractors. The Bill outlawed these legally negotiated funds.
3. Strips the right to strike from ambulance workers. Ambulance workers will now be forced to use binding arbitration rather than be allowed to engage in a legal strike.

Many of the provisions are likely unconstitutional, as they contravene rights in the Charter of Rights. The AFL has done up an analysis of the Bill and its implications for workers. Read the analysis here.

Why Attack Worker Rights?

Bill 26 is a gift to the Conservatives' friends in the construction industry - a group of anti-union contractors and an "alternative" union have been agitating for these changes to hamstring the building trades unions in the construction sector.

The Merit Contractors Association and the Progressive Contractors Association (PCAC) have been lobbying for restrictions on certification votes and the elimination of MERFs for almost a decade. Both are avowed "open-shop" associations, which seek to undermine union representation and enhance employer rights in the construction sector. Members of both organizations are closely connected to the Conservative Party in Alberta.

A direct beneficiary of the changes will be the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), an employer-friendly "alternative union" that preaches a more cooperative, collaborationist version of unionism. Because CLAC works more closely with employers, they stand to benefit disproportionately from employer-biased rules.

Drive-by legislation: governing by stealth

The government, with its large majority, was never going to have a problem passing Bill 26. Yet they only made the Bill public late in the afternoon of June 2, 2008. The government then limited time for debate and forced the Bill through the Legilsature just after midnight on June 4, 2008. There was no real opportunity for debate within the Legislature let alone any consultation with the working people whose lives were going to be negatively effected. Apparently, non-union constuction employers provided the only consultation the government felt they needed. Albertans who care about the democratic process and workers' rights should voice their opposition to this sneaky, back-room method of governing.

Phone your MLA and the Premier today! Tell them you oppose the way they rammed this legislation through and their stripping away of fundamental workers' rights.

Premier Ed Stelmach
Phone:(780) 427 2251
Long distance: 310-0000 (then dial number)

Search for your MLA at the Legislative Assembly website 

 

 

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