Canadian Labour Reporter

"We think it's a recipe for poi- soning labour relations," said Gil McGowan, president of the Al- berta Federation of Labour. "When it's more centralized, all the power, when it comes to collective bargaining, is in the hands of the premier and the cab- inet. It will politicize the bargain- ing process and take negotiations away from employers who actu- ally know what's happening on the front lines and in workplaces." Of particular concern for the AFL is that — should a more uni- fied scheme be applied — politi- cal agendas will prevail and the government will use its position to force unsavoury contracts that impose rollbacks on public sec- tor staffers. But plummeting oil prices in a province almost wholly fi- nancially dependent on such revenue are having an impact. Not unlike most other provin- cial governments, Prentice an- nounced austerity measures for the forthcoming budget, slated for the end of this month. "Alberta is facing a significant fiscal challenge. In the coming year, we are looking at a $7-bil- lion revenue shortfall, with con- tinued shortfalls in the years af- ter that," he said in a statement. "Alberta has benefited from high revenues and low taxes, and used resource revenues to cover the difference. That is no longer sustainable." Of late, contracts have been costly, he added, citing the $2.6-billion raise expected for public sector workers over the next three years. "This is about getting our own house in order and improving how we bargain," he said. "As pub- lic servants, we are all paid out of the same purse. At times, bar- gaining is conducted as though there are different owners of that purse when, in reality, there is only one: the Alberta taxpayer." Having a key player such as the province involved could streamline the process, accord- ing to David Corry, partner at the labour and employment firm Gowlings in Calgary. Corry, who represented man- agement during bargaining with Alberta's teachers, said having the party that controls the purse at the table can ease tension and facilitate communication. "We had to go to all sorts of ex- tremes to get the government's attention; we were communi- cating as most effectively as we could without any formal pro- cess with the ministers of labour and education, trying to get the message up to the premier's of- fice," he said. "It led to consider- able conflict between the local school boards." Corry pointed west to British Columbia, which evinces a vi- able blueprint. In that province, umbrella councils enforce centralized bargaining with public workers, such as the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, which handles negotiations at schools for whipsaw agreements. "If you have (employer) boards unprepared for bargaining or at odds over the government's agenda, that can sometimes make it very very difficult be- cause, at the end of the day, the government is responsible for raising the money and paying the proceeds to finance the collective bargaining process — but they're not at the bargaining table." The right to strike As part of his mandate, Grant will also look at enshrining the right to strike — a perk not con- stitutionally proffered in the province. Prompted by the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year striking down Saskatchewan's essential services legislation as unconstitutional, Alberta is tasked with determining what defines an emergency or essen- tial service, how services will be provided during a strike, and which mechanism will be ap- plied during conflict resolution (think binding arbitration). McGowan lauded that partic- ular move as the silver lining. "We have mixed feelings about the premier's announcement," he added. Up next are consultations with Alberta's unions, something Prentice said will happen before the end of March. 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER news < from pg. 1 Province can smooth bargaining process: Lawyer B.C.'s centralized bargaining approach could serve as a model for Alberta. The B.C. Public School Em- ployers' Association, for example, handles teacher negotiations using whipsaw collective agreements. Photo: Ben Nelms (Reuters) All the power, when it comes to collective bargaining, is in the hands of the premier.

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