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The Alberta Labour Relations Code (ALRC) is what most people refer to when they talk about labour laws. The Code governs the relationships between workers, unions and employers. There are many other pieces of legislation that deal with employment law and regulation (e.g.: employment standards, occupational health and safety, human rights), but it is specifically the Labour Relations Code that is being reviewed this year. So, labour laws are of specific interest to unions, to workers who have or want to have union representation, and to employers. Typically, labour laws prescribe the role of government in labour relations, how workers may join unions or leave unions, how employers and unions conduct collective bargaining, essential components of collective agreements, and the conduct of parties during labour disputes. There has been an intensive lobbying campaign by a small group of employers’ organizations over the past few years to revise certain aspects of the Alberta Labour Relations Code. These employers are seeking changes making it more difficult for workers to join unions, easier for workers to leave unions and more difficult for unions to organize new locals. Before you, as an MLA, consider legislative changes to the Alberta Labour Relations Code, it is important that you hear the other side of the story. Many working men and women from your constituency are union members who are directly affected by labour laws – and who have a direct stake in any changes to those laws. One in every four Alberta workers belongs to a union. The Province’s labour central, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), represents 115,000 of those workers. Since its founding in 1912, the AFL has sought increased protection of working people’s rights in a wide variety of areas. This kit has been prepared by the Alberta Federation of Labour to provide you with accurate background information on labour laws and to give you a working people’s perspective on the Alberta Labour Relations Code. From our perspective, the strengths and weaknesses of the Code – and what parts need to be amended – will be quite different than what you will have heard up till now. |