November 2010: Better health and safety rules; pension reform; Parkland fall conference; Lakoff lecture highlights; stop Calgary Public Library cuts

AFL demands better health and safety rules

The AFL has released a 10-point plan on workplace health and safety (click here for the plan), calling for immediate action from the Alberta Minister of Employment and Immigration (click here for press release). “If simple and common-sense changes aren’t made today, Alberta will return to the highest number of workplace fatalities in Canada,” says AFL president Gil McGowan. The AFL delivered more than 2,500 signed postcards to the government calling for improved health and safety rules. For more information …

AFL fights for REAL pension reform

Canada is facing a pensions crisis and the situation in Alberta is worst than most of the country, with too many people facing a retirement of poverty and hardship after a lifetime of hard work. There is growing consensus about reforming the Canada Pension Plan, but the Alberta government, led by Finance Minister Ted Morton, is resisting. Join top Canadian pension experts Jon Kesselman, Canada Research Chair in Public Policy at Simon Fraser University, and Bernard Dussault, former chief actuary of the Canada Pension Plan, at an AFL summit to explore how we can all retire with dignity. For more details …

Rewriting a Country: Toward a Just and Peaceful Canada

Join the Parkland Institute for its 14th annual fall conference, which features a lineup of speakers headed by Canada’s most famous author, Margaret Atwood. The vision of Canada is changing, thanks to the efforts of the conservative and corporate elites. Military aggression has replaced peacekeeping. Global competition is in. The conference looks at the hopeful politics of retrieving Canadians’ popular view of a country where social and environmental justice prevail. For full conference details …

Get the message!

Linguistics professor George Lakoff, former communications advisor to Barack Obama during his presidential campaign, gave a lecture to the AFL and guests on how to get the progressive message out. How you frame the debate determines how successful you will be. To hear highlights of his lecture … To hear the lecture in full, contact us at afl@afl.org.

Urgent Action

Join the campaign to stop library cuts

Calgary Public Library is facing budget cuts that would reduce opening hours and mean job losses. A letter-writing campaign launched by library workers’ union CUPE 1169 has already had an impact and the size of the looming cut has been reduced. Let’s build on this success by stepping up the campaign. To join the campaign …

November 5-7, 2010 – AB New Democratic Convention, Red Deer

November 13, 2010 – Notre Dame Des Bananes Fall Concert, Bonnie Doon Hall,

November 16, 2010 – AFL Lobby Day, Edmonton

November 18, 2010 – AFL Workshop – How the Temporary Worker Program is Impacting Alberta’s Reputation

November 19-21, 2010 – Parkland Fall Conference, Edmonton

November 27, 2010 – AFL Pension Summit, Edmonton

December 5, 2010 – AFL Women’s Committee Commemorative Brunch, Edmonton

December 10, 2010 – Deadline for registrations to AFL Winter School (brochure/registration form)

In 1991, 15 per cent of the Alberta workforce (341,000 workers) was employed in the top four most dangerous occupations. In 2009, 22 per cent of Albertans (620,000 workers) were employed in the most dangerous occupations.
Proportionately, Alberta has four times more people in resource-extraction industries – one of Canada’s most dangerous industries – than the Canadian average.
Workers in Alberta are more likely to die on the job than workers in other provinces. In 2008, there were 5.9 deaths per 100,000 workers in Alberta compared to the national average of 4.2 deaths per 100,000 workers.