As suggested by our provincial

government we may hit a deficit of nearly $7 billion dollars for 2016 in our province

and the PC’s are once again looking directly at public service employees as a means to reduce government spending.We’ve seen this thinking and meth-odology before by a government of the day. In the early 90s then Premier Ralph Klein looked to the public service as a means to lowering government spending and promised no lay-offs. We would be remiss not to remind ourselves that the promise wasn’t upheld and that those work-ers felt the full effects of that broken promise by losing their jobs. The 5% roll back Premier Prentice has announced for himself and his cabinet is a mere political manoeuvre without much substance. On a salary that’s over $200,000 the hit to your pocket can be well absorbed with no effect of your lifestyle. Talking of sharing the load of the current fiscal disaster is little more than games-manship towards the public eye and attempting to put the focus on public sector workers.Unions in Alberta have already played their role and the contracts that have been bargained must be adhered to. When you compare

the other side and say what have you done? The answer is $17.4 billion amassed since 1976. Norway created their savings program in 1990. Closer to home, the state of Alaska created a fund the same year as Alberta but now has over twice the savings even with annual dividends paid to citizens of the state. As the price of oil has dropped significantly, Norwegians can be assured they have enough savings to fund their social programs for years to come. Alberta… what’s in our future?

Forty-three years of PC governance of this province needs to change and after such a long time the party should be well aware of the boom and bust cycle of our economy. Rely-ing on the little amount of resource revenue and the unfair flat tax this province accumulates is not a way to run a province.

EDLC Labour ReporterFebruary 2015

Published by the Edmonton & District Labour Council

NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015 – 7:00 PM L ABOUR CENTRE 10425 PRINCESS ELIZ ABETH AVE

PR

ESIDEN

T’S MESSA

GE

wages of public vs private sector in this province, it shows that the public sector is below the average to private sector workers. One could suggest that the public sector workers need a boost rather than a claw back to catch up with the private sector. Solutions to a budget deficit are out there and it begins with fairness. A fair progressive income tax system, a fair increase to corporate taxes for large businesses and most of all, a fair share of the wealth this province produces from natural resources. The comparison of Alberta to Norway on royalties derived from non-renew-able resources shows a stark contrast on how a government can serve its people. It’s difficult to compare the two as there are many differences but when one jurisdiction can put away nearly a trillion dollars in savings for the future you have to take a look at

Here we go again?by Bruce Fafard

John Kolkman, Research Coordinator of the Edmonton Social Planning Council will be giving a presentation of the ESPC`s paperA Profile on Poverty in Edmontonat the February 17 meeting of the EDLC.

2 EDLC Labour ReporterFebruary 2015

the first municipality to mark Black History Month following successful lobbying efforts by the Ontario Black Historical Society. The House of Com-mons officially recognized Black His-tory Month across Canada in 1995.This February, we celebrate our ances-tors, past and present human rights community, and labour activists' vic-tories and contributions to Canadian society -- but these didn't come with-out ongoing struggles and obstacles to equity, particularly around racism and discrimination both hidden and overt.CURC commends and supports the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists'

EDLC Labour ReporterVol. 26 No. 2

(February, 2015)

Edmonton & District Labour Council#101 – 10425 Princess Elizabeth Ave.

Edmonton, AB T5G 0Y5p. 780-474-4747 f. 780-477-1064

email: office@edlc.cawebsite: www.edlc.ca

Edited & produced by the EDLCNewsletter Committee

The EDLC Labour Reporter is published monthly by the Edmonton & District Labour Council. We welcome your submissions, letters and comments. Opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the EDLC.

1. Basic Shop Steward

2. Steward as a Leader — Advanced Steward Course

3. Contract Interpretation

4. Labour Relations Code

5. Bully—Harassment

6. Labour History

7. Pensions/Retirement

8. WCB Advocacy

9. Building the Next Generation of Organizers

Course Selections:

2015 SCHOOL

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Registration 5-6 PM

Plenary 6-7 PM

Classes 7:15–9 PM

*SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015 8:30 AM-4:30 PM

SUNDAY, March 1, 2015 8:30 AM-12:30 PM

*Lunch supplied Saturday

CLASSES

LOCATION

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ALBERTA

7128 ADA BOULEVARD

EDMONTON

Education Committee Members

Melissa Field — Chair Lynn Davis, Brian Henderson,

Perri Garvin, Bruce Fafard Mark Brzezowski

Edmonton & District Labour Council Annual School

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” Nelson Mandela

The Congress of Union Retirees of Canada (CURC), alongside the Cana-dian labour move-ment, celebrates Feb-ruary 2015 as Black History Month.

Black History Month began in the United States as "Negro History Week" in February 1926 through the work of African-American scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The Canadian Negro Women's Club began celebrating the importance of the contributions of African-Cana-dians in the 1950s. Toronto became

Marking the victories and struggles of Black workers in Canada

mandate to work within the frame-work of the labour movement to ad-vocate for Black trade unionists and create a vehicle for advancing the full inclusion of workers of African de-scent in the workplace and society as a whole.It is alarmingly evident that many workers, particularly people of colour and Aboriginal peoples with little eco-nomic power, face marginalization and exploitation by those who tout power and privilege (the 1%). We remain steadfast in fulfilling the "I Have A Dream" wishes, where our sisters and brothers of African de-scent can live with the utmost respect and dignity deserving to a people who helped build this country and the labour movement. Black Lives Matter.

BY RETIREE MATTERS JANICE GAIREY

3EDLC Labour Reporter February 2015

Ten Alberta schools received grants from the Aspen Foundation to help educate young Alber-

tans and develop citizens who are engaged in social justice learning and action.The deadline for making grant applications for this school year was October 6th. The Selection Com-mittee was very pleased to see the variety of projects outlined by teachers and students in the twenty-five applications they received from around the prov-ince.Ten schools met Aspen’s criteria and were selected for funding or partial funding of their Social Justice Learning Projects. The list of the schools, title of projects, and school districts are as follows: St. Mary’s (grade 9s), Be Just, Medicine Hat Catholic District; Spruce Grove Evergreen Catholic Outreach School, Support One Senior (SOS), Evergreen Catholic School Division; Ecole Georges H Primeau Middle School (grades 5-8), We R Me 2 WE, Greater St. Albert Cath-olic Schools; St. Pius Elementary School, Back Packs for the Homeless, Edmonton Catholic School District; Ascension of Our Lord (K-9), Recycle Awareness, Calgary Catholic School District; Mount View (K-6),

Cultural Programming, dancing and spiritual teach-ings through Hoop Dance, Calgary Board of Educa-tion; St. Michael School (K-9), We are all Treaty 7 signatories, Calgary Catholic School District; Eastglen High School, Eastglen Social Justice Team, Edmonton Public School District; St. Damien (K-6), Kids Cook-ing Up Compassion, Calgary Catholic School Divi-sion; Central Middle School (grades 6-8), Weaving the Change, Red Deer Public School District.One half of the grant will be paid now. The balance will be paid on completion of the project, and the recipient provides an accounting and evaluation report. If schools applied this year and did not receive the Social Justice Learning Grant, we ask that they care-fully read the criteria and consider applying again next year. The Aspen Foundation invites all Alberta schools to consider applying for this grant for the next school year.Aspen Foundation for Labour Education is a non-profit organization that depends on funding from individuals, ATA locals, and unions. If individuals want to support social justice learning, Aspen is a registered charity and provides income tax receipts (see our website or go to CanadaHelps.org). If your local is already contributing to Aspen, we thank them. If they are not contributing, you may wish to ask that they do so that Aspen can increase the amount of money available for unit development and the Grants in Support of Social Justice Learning program.Visit us at our website: www.afle.ca.

Aspen Foundation Provides Schools $7,500 in Social Justice Learning Grants

4 EDLC Labour ReporterFebruary 2015

BY ELLA BEDARD JANUARY 30, 2015

Saskatchewan public sector workers have won back the right to strike. In a 5-2 majority, the Court deemed

that the essential service law, which prevents public sec-tor employees from striking, violates section 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects freedom of association.The Court has given Saskatchewan one year to enact new legislation.Enacted in 2007, Saskatchewan's Public Service Essential Services Act mirrors similar legislation in British Colum-bia, Nova Scotia and elsewhere, giving governments the authority to deem public sector services essential, thereby taking away the right to strike for workers in those sectors.Though the Regina Court struck down the law as uncon-stitutional in 2012, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal overturned the ruling a year later. Today's ruling over-turns that verdict in that appeal.Speaking on behalf of the three high court judges who ruled in favour of the Saskatchewan Federation of La-bour appeal, Justice Rosalie Abella said that: “the right to strike is not merely deriva-tive of collective bargaining, it is an indispensable component of that right. Where good faith negotiations break down, the ability to engage in the collective withdrawal of services is a neces-sary component of the process through which workers can con-tinue to participate meaningfully in the pursuit of their collective workplace goals. This crucial role in collective bargaining is why the right to strike is consti-tutionally protected by s. 2 (d).”"I think the Court should be applauded for their decision to recognize that the right to strike is a fundamental right protected by our Charter," said Canadian Labour Con-gress (CLC) President Hassan Yussuff. "I think this is an absolutely great decision in regards to the context of col-lective bargaining."The decision is a further recognition of Canada's inter-national obligations under Internal Labour Organization (ILO) convention to uphold these rights, added Yussuff."The Court has said that governments who use their uni-

Supreme Court upholds right to strike:A major win for workers

lateral power to take away public sector workers' right to go on strike can't simply do that in an arbitrary way," said Yussuff, "they have to be balanced in regard to when es-sential services exist. More importantly, it has to also lead to a process that would allow the workers to achieve fair collective agreements."Yussuff believes the decision also sends "a clear message" to the federal government, who, in recent years has also used essential service legislations to end labour disputes. "Those changes were quite draconian," said Yussuff, "and now I think the federal government is going to have to rethink its position -- if it's wise, rather than simply al-lowing that to play out through another Supreme Court Challenge."The decision will also have resonance in the private sector, said Yussuff, where both federal and provincial govern-ments are able to intervene in labour disputes."I think government is going to have to take some care when it decides to intervene in those disputes," said Yus-suff, "because on every one of those fronts these are fun-damental recognitions by the court of the right to strike."Today's decision is the second Supreme Court ruling this month to enshrine labour rights under Section 2.d of the Charter. On January 16, the high court struck down a law that prohibited the RCMP from forming a union. In a 6-1 decision, the Court ruled that excluding Mounties from the Public Labour Relations Act, constituted a violation of the RCMP's freedom of association.Though Yussuff thinks it is too soon to say for certain what the meaning of these rulings will be, he did acknowledge that both verdicts are significant victories for labour. Ella Bedard is rabble.ca's labour intern.

Hassan Yussuff