A recent study by a graduate student at Royal Roads University in B.C. strongly echoes the Alberta Federation of Labour’s conclusions about what is wrong with the Alberta Labour Relations Code.

The study by Martin d’Entremont, In Good Faith: Organizing workers and bargaining first contracts under the Alberta Labour Relations Code, examines the Code to see if it provides barriers to unions that would explain Alberta’s low unionization rate.

"The labour laws in Alberta are theoretically intended to establish and protect workers’ rights to unionize," said d’Entremeont. "Since Alberta has the lowest unionization rate in Canada, I wanted to see if failings in the laws or their interpretation and enforcement could explain that fact."

Mr. d’Entremont concludes that the Alberta Labour Relations Code does provide substantial barriers to workers’ right to unionize, and that those barriers go a long way toward explaining Alberta’s low unionization rate.

D’Entremont’s study makes eleven recommendations for amending the Alberta Labour Relations Code so that it will more effectively protect workers’ right to join a union and enjoy the benefits of collective bargaining.

Notably, he calls for certification upon demonstration of simple majority support for unions as evidenced by signed membership cards, automatic certification in the face of employer interference with organizing, no-fault first contract legislation based upon the Manitoba model, a ban on replacement workers, and several measures to reform the make-up and practices of the Alberta Labour Relations Board.