8
NEWS
January 27, 2014
CANADIAN HR REPORTER
Alberta's new
labour laws
spawn legal
challenge
Bills increase public sector
wildcat strike penalties,
eliminate binding arbitration
BY SABRINA NANJI
KEY LABOUR players across
Canada have their eyes glued to
Wild Rose Country, where Alberta has passed controversial
legislation that strips government
employees of critical bargaining
rights.
Two new laws, passed late last
year, have sparked an uproar in
labour circles.
Under Bill 45, the Public Sector Services Continuation Act,
unions that engage in wildcat
strikes could be fined up to $1
million per day.
Bill 46 pertains to the current
round of collective bargaining
between the provincial government and the Alberta Union of
Provincial Employees (AUPE),
which came to a standstill after
contracts expired last March.
The Public Service Salary Restraint Act enables the provincial
government to impose an agreement if a deal cannot be reached
by Jan. 31, bypassing binding arbitration. Bill 46 also imposes a
two-year wage freeze for public
sector staff.
The contentious legislation
spawned a lawsuit from the union,
which represents about 22,000
workers who say the provincial
government violated the Charter
of Rights.
The legislation is "draconian,"
according to Guy Smith, president
of AUPE.
"Our only legal recourse was
eliminated with the stroke of a
pen," he said. "This is the government being extremely heavyhanded and dictatorial."
AUPE is currently fighting two
battles in the courtroom. The first
was filed at the Court of Queen's
Bench and alleges Bill 46 violates
Credit: Dave Cournoyer
Thomas Lukaszuk, Alberta's Minister of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour, said the previous penalties in the province for illegal
strikes were akin to handing out $2 speeding tickets. "Nobody in this country has a democratic right to strike illegally," he
said, and there need to be appropriate consequences.
the inherent collective bargaining
rights of workers.
A bad-faith bargaining complaint was also filed with the province's labour relations board (both
allegations have yet to be proven
in court).
"The government has had this
legislation in their back pocket
for months and had directed
their bargaining team to not negotiate at all, knowing we'd reach
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an impasse and then apply for arbitration, which we think is a fair
route," said Smith.
But the legislative changes
BINDING > pg. 14
