By Cole Rockarts On Wednesday, July 29, Alberta’s United Conservative Party government passed the Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplaces Act, which aims to control how union dues can finance political…

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It’s going take more than the courts to stop Kenney’s Bill 32

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By Cole Rockarts

On Wednesday, July 29, Alberta’s United Conservative Party government passed the Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplaces Act, which aims to control how union dues can finance political activities and legislate restrictions on where unions can picket. The bill claims it will save employers $100 million dollars per year by “reducing red tape”, and enhancing worker “choice” and “promote fairness and productivity”.  

Since the government was elected in 2019, Premier Jason Kenney has steadily chipped away at the rights of working people and labour unions, slashing the minimum wage, cutting health and safety standards and laying off tens of thousands of workers across a variety of sectors. Now, the government has declared a war on workers. 

The Bill has several damaging implications for workers, and allows for the government to be able to direct the Labour Relations Board to suspend dues checkoff for up to six months during an illegal strike. Additionally, Alberta would be the first province to have union members have to opt-in to having some of their dues go to political activities. Bill 32 will also bring in changes to the Employment Standards Act and Labour Relations Code. Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping stated that the Bill will “help businesses save time and money, letting them focus on getting Albertans back to work while protecting workers”. 

Brief Context

In 2018, the NDP made changes to the Labour Relations Code, legislation that had been unchanged for 30 years. The amendments brought forward improvements to union certification, first-contract legislation, and shifted the burden of proof from workers to employers regarding unfair labour practices. 

Bill 32 puts restrictions on guaranteed mandatory first contract arbitration, certification and remedial certifications. With the passing of this legislation, it makes the process for union certification longer, extending it to resolution within six months. As many organizers know, this gives employers extra time to commit unfair labour practices and undermines the fundamental right to organize in Alberta. Similarly, it makes remedial certification harder to access for workers who experience unfair labour practices (such as firings and interference in organizing drives) at the hands of bosses. 

In 2008, CLAC worked with employers to ensure that open periods that allow workers to change unions were closed. A year later in Firestone [2009] Alta. L.R.B.R. 134, the Alberta Labour Relations Board ruled that this violated the rights of workers to choose their representation. CLAC has continued the government to change the Labour Relations Code and overturn the Firestone decision. While the Firestone decision ended 30 years of abusive practice, there were no negative consequences to employers that engaged in union busting drives for those wanting to decertify from CLAC and switch to a real union. Bill 32 amends the Code to allow for the closure of an open period by renewing collective agreements early, and prevents workers from voting to change unions, which can only happen during a specified period. 

Labour Rights Under Attack

Bill 32 directly attacks unions’ abilities to support political campaigns and causes, from donating to charities to running campaigns for the minimum wage and public health care. Along with the changes to unions, the bill also makes several changes for non unionized workers, including changing the rules for payroll, termination and holiday pay. It also expands the jobs that 13 and 14 year olds can do without requiring a permit, as well as pay them the two-tiered youth minimum wage rollback that the UCP passed in June. 

One of the most concerning aspects of the bill is that workers are now forced to opt-in to pay the portion of union dues that go towards funding political action. Bill 23 has made Alberta the only province in Canada to restrict the ability of unions to raise public awareness and campaign on issues that affect the lives of all workers, from health care and child care campaigns to the fight for a higher minimum wage. 

The opt-in clause now requires workers in a bargaining unit must elect or opt-in before dues are collected or used for political activities. It divides dues into two categories: Category A, which covers things such as funding social causes and issues, donating to charities or NGOs, organizations or groups affiliated with or supportive of a political party (such as labour councils and the Alberta Federation of Labour), and ‘any other activities prescribed by the regulations’. Category B covers activities under the Labour Relations Code, collective bargaining, activities that relate to representation of members and activities that do not fall within other categories.

The form and timing of opt-in dues processes will also be determined by regulations. There will likely be an attempt by the provincial government to try and have unions put more expenses in category A, and there is expected to be ongoing legal disputes about allocations. 

The omnibus bill also puts limitations on pickets and secondary pickets. The bill attacks workers’ freedom of expression and assembly by legislating restrictions on where unions are allowed to picket and forcing them to apply to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for permission to picket.  Further, picketing is ‘deemed wrongful’ when it obstructs or impedes a person from crossing a picket line which fundamentally contradicts the efficacy of strikes, and undermines the right to strike and workplace organizing as a whole. 

Fighting Back 

26 unions and the Alberta Federation of Labour are signing onto a legal challenge on the grounds that the bill is unconstitutional and interferes with union members’ right to association and freedom of expression. 

This is not just about Bill 32, but about broadly limiting the right to all forms of dissent and protest. After the passage of Bill 1, which imposes harsh penalties for protestors shutting down or blocking critical infrastructure, including pipelines and railways. Bill 1 has also been met with a constitutional challenge from organized labour. 

But a legal challenge alone will not stop the legislation before it wreaks havoc on labour organizations and limits the power of union and non-union members to organize in their workplaces. The impact of Bill 32 won’t be fully understandable until regulations are made, which is expected in September.

Immense opportunity 

Over the past several months, Alberta workers have seen hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to post-secondary education, steps taken towards the privatization of health care through Bill 30 and tens of thousands of layoffs to a range of sectors. Bill 32 is an existential threat to unions throughout the province, and simultaneously offers unions in Alberta the opportunity to organize in ways they never have before. 

Employers are taking advantage of the austerity that the provincial government is imposing on workers across Alberta. Conservative governments and their austerity wish lists will not stop at the cuts, attacks on collective bargaining, and working towards destroying the public sector unless there is an organized resistance from workers.  

What workers and unions can do now is organize. The only thing that the UCP and it’s corporate allies will be threatened by is their bottom line. Thus, the only effective mobilization that the government will listen to is a growing number of work stoppages and successful (all out) strikes across the province. Any union that expects to survive the Kenney administration has to invest its energy, labour, and money into strike funds and doing the time consuming work of educating members in the power of taking their workplaces into their own hands. After Janus in the U.S., thousands of workers began to mobilize their membership and set off a series of strike waves in education, healthcare, and beyond. Alberta has been here before – the only question now is if we are going to be doomed to repeat history, or take action.

WILDCAT! Major Alberta strike against healthcare cuts

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By Cole Rockarts

Today, October 26 2020, hundreds of members of the Alberta Union of Public Employees (AUPE) walked off the job to protest ongoing attacks on health care by Jason Kenney’s government.

The key issues include job security against outsourcing, addressing short-staffing, and stopping the privatization of public healthcare.  

On October 13, Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced that the provincial government would cut 11,000 healthcare jobs through outsourcing jobs in laboratories, housekeeping, food services, and laundry. AUPE represents more than 90,000 workers, including 58,000 in health care.

On October 23, Alberta Health Services opened a Request for Proposals (RFP) from private companies to take over laundry services.

The strike

As of publication, there are strikes at over two dozen workplaces across the province, including major hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary, as well as smaller regional and rural hospitals and medical centres. A list of strike locations is at the bottom of this article.

Most of the AUPE members involved in the wildcat strike are general support service (GSS) workers, including food service, cleaners, porters, clerical staff and maintenance workers. Licensed practical nurses and health-care aides have also joined the picket lines. 

“Nursing-care and support workers decided today that there was no other option but to fight to protect Albertans at risk, especially during the deadliest pandemic in a century. By constantly short-staffing public health care, this government is pushing our members to the breaking point exactly when Albertans need them most,” said AUPE President Guy Smith in a statement.

“Across this province, working people are rising up against Jason Kenney’s job-killing policies and are joining the fight in solidarity. This was a decision taken by the members themselves. AUPE is a democratic union and we respect the wishes of our members.”

Attacks on health care

To no one’s surprise, Jason Kenney is breaking the 2019 “Public Health Guarantee” that  promised to maintain health-care funding and “a universally accessible, publicly funded health-care system.”

Since the mid-1980s, healthcare in Alberta has become one of the biggest targets for privatization and cuts. Kenney and the United Conservative Party want to carry on this legacy.

As early as April 2021, the UCP government plans on cutting 800 clinical jobs (nursing care and physician positions) and contracting out close to 10,000 general support services positions to the private sector.

Before the pandemic even hit, health care workers were fighting health care cuts. Workers are well aware privatization of services will destroy workers’ livelihoods, lead to short staffing, and worse healthcare outcomes.

History repeats 

In 1995 Calgary’s hospital laundry workers went on an 11-day strike to stop job outsourcing, after taking a 28 percent pay cut in 1993 in exchange for job security.

In 2012, AUPE members went out on a one day wildcat at the Royal Alexandra Hospital following a breakdown in negotiations. 800 workers in more than 20 centres across the province walked out, and managers soon started performing duties like meal delivery, portering and room cleaning.

AUPE leadership indicated that there is no timeline for how long the current “wildcat” strike will last.

It is clear that healthcare workers in Alberta have reached a breaking point, and now they’re determined to do something about it.

To support AUPE striking workers, head down to a picket line at one of the locations below (courtesy of Progress Alberta), and follow AUPE’s news updates.

Strike locations

Foothills Hospital
Royal Alexandra Hospital
Glenrose Rehab Hospital
Peter Lougheed Hospital
Red Deer Hospital
Westlock Healhcare Centre
Athabasca Healthcare Centre
South Health Campus Calgary
Lethbridge Home Care
Alberta Hospital in YEG
Whitecourt Healthcare Centre
Cold Lake Healthcare Centre
Peace River Community Healthcare Centre
Leduc Community Hospital West
View Health Centre in Stony Plain
Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital
High Prairie Health Complex
Slave Lake Healthcare Centre
Northwest Health Centre in High Level
Claresholm General Hospital
Wetaskiwin Hospital and Care Centre
University of Alberta Hospital
Rockyview General Hospital

Sexism in Winnipeg’s labour movement

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Editor’s Note: This story contains descriptions of sexual harassment. Names with an asterisk (*) have been changed to protect the privacy of some individuals interviewed.

An investigation by Cole Rockarts

Over the course of the past six years, at least six women have documented accounts of sexual harassment within the Winnipeg labour movement.

Among the concerns shared by the eight union members interviewed for this piece, there have been reports of intimidation and threats towards women who would not vote with their locals. 

There are accounts of union members making remarks that women faked sexual assault claims against male union members. There is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness regarding equity issues.

Here are some of their stories.

Names marked with an asterisk (*) have been changed to protect them.

CUPE Manitoba president is arrested 

On January 21, the Brandon Police Service arrested former CUPE Manitoba President Abe Araya on a single charge of sexual assault. The reported incident has not been proven in court. Araya has since been released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court in Brandon on April 1. 

According to the CBC, police opened an investigation into an incident alleged to have occured in Brandon during a work trip in February 2019.

Nine months later, on November 14, at the 56th CUPE Manitoba Convention, Abe Araya was elected president of the provincial union. Before his election, he served as CUPE Local 110 President, representing custodians, maintenance workers and painters at the Winnipeg School Division. 

In the summer of 2020, a grievance was filed against Araya. According to CBC, Araya’s attorney states that Araya had been involved in a “comprehensive and intense internal investigation, which resulted in him being exonerated.”

Karine Fortin, spokesperson for the CUPE National office, responded to a media request from Rankandfile.ca, stating: “The grievance has been resolved and we won’t be commenting on the details of it since labour relations matters are confidential between the union and employer, and the privacy of individuals involved is a priority.”

Winnipeg Labour Council

In May 2018, six unions wrote to the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to raise concerns of “perceived incidents of intimidation and harassment brought forward by members of CUPE” at the Winnipeg Labour Council. 

The report, signed by six delegate unions, stated that CUPE members had a history of undermining the democratic process, as well as harassing and intimidating other union members within council executive, committee and general membership meetings. 

On March 19, 2019, Basia Sokal resigned as president of the Winnipeg Labour Council.

“My decision is due to the systemic issues of bullying, harassment and the undermining of democracy in progressive movements.” Sokal said in a statement on Facebook. 

Abe Araya (left) and Gord Delbridge (CUPE Local 500)

Dave Sauer (Former President of Winnipeg Labour Council), Terry Egan (Former President of CUPE Local 110 and Former President of CUPE Manitoba), Gord Delbridge (President, CUPE Local 500) were among those named in a subsequent October 2019 Canadian Labour Congress report investigating a sexual harassment complaint against Sokal during Labour Day Picnic in 2018. Although the report stated the sexual harassment allegation could not be corroborated, it noted that the “environment at the WLC was quite dysfunctional and not always ‘safe’ for women’s full participation.”

“It was very clear that there were a few who had it in for Basia,” said Rachel*, former Winnipeg Labour Council delegate. “One brother in particular was constantly nitpicking and questioning everything. Especially finances — to me, it seemed like he was trying to make people believe something sketchy was going on and implying that Basia was misusing funds.”

“It was exhausting to listen to at every single meeting. Shockingly, after the financial audit came back, nothing untoward was found. He still wouldn’t let it go.”

“The CLC investigation found nothing,” said Don*, a former CUPE member, of the CLC report. “Meanwhile, did I hear demeaning stuff, harassment, stuff like that? Oh yeah, absolutely,”

Municipal elections

2018 was an election year for Winnipeg. Sokal wanted to start to engage union members on municipal issues, and brought in the CLC to help with the process. Some of the WLC Executive proposed a candidates’ forum and meet-and-greet with members. According to Sokal, CUPE Local 110 and 500 delegates shut her down and pushed the CLC representative out of the process.

“We already know how to do this because this is what we do. If I didn’t listen to them [CUPE delegates Delbridge and Egan], I was told I was going to be responsible for people losing their jobs if their candidates didn’t get elected,” said Sokal in an interview with Rankandfile.ca. “The [CUPE] local already had their list of candidates they planned on endorsing.”

The conflict came to a head over the endorsement of a candidate in the Daniel McIntyre ward located in west-central Winnipeg. Cindy Gilroy, the incumbent, had no connection to labour and had voted against public housing and expansion on transit. The second candidate was Josh Brandon, a community activist and anti-poverty organizer. CUPE locals had already endorsed Gilroy, while Sokal and other delegates promoted Brandon.

Sokal says a few hours before the endorsement meeting, CUPE Local 500 President Gord Delbridge came into Sokal’s office and said “This has become a shit show. You’re an embarrassment.” When Sokal said that delegates would vote for who they wanted, he responded: “If you think there’s democracy in the labour movement, then you must be joking.”

According to Sokal, Delbridge threatened to pull CUPE Local 500’s dues if the vote did not go the way they wanted, essentially pulling the majority of funding for WLC work. “We’ll cripple you,” said Delbridge. 

Rose*, a Winnipeg Labour Council delegate, says, “In my experiences at these two meetings, and when I have volunteered performing interviews as an alternate member of the PAC, I have witnessed multiple instances of CUPE official representatives attempting to railroad process, disregarding other unions opinions, and on one occasion threatening “political consequences” for the WLC if procedure wasn’t changed to allow specific incumbents who hadn’t met the endorsement submission deadline to schedule interviews for endorsement.”

Mr. Egan and Mr. Delbridge did not respond to requests for comment via email or facebook. 

CUPE Local 110

Claire Friesen is a member and former education chair at CUPE Local 2348. The local has over 700 members in Manitoba and represents workers in the social services sector.

During a 2016 union training workshop, Friesen says at least a dozen members gave feedback about being “uncomfortable with the culture of heavy drinking, of the hostile t-shirts (many 110 members dress in biker gang attire, have local 110 tattoos, and leather vests) that Local 110 members were wearing, and said that they would not return to future education workshops because of the culture of hostility and intimidation.”

“Loco 110” vest

Friesen says she had raised issues of harassment regarding CUPE Local 110 with both CUPE Manitoba and CUPE National, but there was no follow-up.

Terry Egan of CUPE Local 110 was the subject of Basia Sokal’s sexual harassment complaint documented in the CLC report. The report notes that both Sokal and Egan were interviewed. Egan is quoted in the report: “I did not say what she said, and if I made any comments like that at any time in my life — which is possible — I definitely did not make them in her presence, or to, or about her.”

Valerie*, a CUPE member, shared a story of one of her first interactions with Local 110, which occurred at the April 2015 CUPE Manitoba Convention. 

“Terry Egan made overt sexual comments about my body,” said Valerie, noting the incident happened in front of about 50 people. “CUPE staff, the executive and other members were present. No one in the room said anything.” The member says she responded to Egan by citing the CUPE Code of Conduct and saying his language was not acceptable.

Valerie describes her experience with Egan and Local 110 members at the 2016 training as “intimidating”. It was brought up to the ombudsperson at the event in hopes that the environment would be addressed, but it never was. “Instead of removing Egan from the room, he was allowed to continue the behaviour of intimidation,” she said. According to the member, it was never followed up on by Manitoba staff. 

“I couldn’t believe what went on at CUPE functions,” said Marie*, who was formerly involved in  CUPE Manitoba, in an interview with Rankandfile.ca. “I would see more and more people (staff reps and members) hooking up with each other but also knew to stay clear of Local 110. Their reputation and past stories indicated this. It’s interesting because they’re always willing to help out at any event, but they take that for granted. It’s known that if they offered their help you would have to owe them a favour”.

According to Friesen, Local 2348 executives discussed how to address the sexist and misogynistic culture allowed inside CUPE Manitoba. Local members and the executive felt that instead of formalizing their complaints and putting members through the grievance process, it would be better received for the tone to be inviting, in hopes that the culture could be addressed and things could move forward.

“It wasn’t the culture CUPE Manitoba wanted to talk about. They wanted names, dates, and times. They were pushy about it,” said Friesen. Instead of disclosing other member’s stories, she shared her own with two CUPE Manitoba staff members. Instead of investigating the complaint, Friesen reports that the two staff “took Terry Egan out for lunch, where they disclosed everything I had discussed in the meeting.” The hostility towards Local 2348 increased, and Egan was then endorsed by the provincial body. 

“After bringing what I felt was a serious complaint forward, for Terry Egan to be elected, let alone endorsed by CUPE Manitoba — it just felt like a huge slap in the face” Friesen said. “Two years after that, Egan’s successor was Abe.”

Mr. Egan did not respond to requests for comment via email or his personal and public facebook profiles.

CUPE National’s role

After Araya’s arrest, CUPE National asked Araya to step down. Araya refused. The national body held a meeting with the 17-person Executive, resulting in a decision to put CUPE Manitoba under administration and dissolve its executive board.

CUPE National President Mark Hancock released a statement regarding the charges on February 2, followed by another update for members on February 4. CUPE National says they took immediate action after becoming aware of the criminal charges against Araya, but made no comment about any prior knowledge of the accusations against him.

Terry Egan (left) and CUPE National President Mark Hancock

Barb*, another CUPE member said that she had wanted to reach out to CUPE National’s executive about her own complaints, but felt there was too much of a connection with Local 110. “Why bother? They’re a tattooed brotherhood.”

“I feel like [CUPE National] have known things for years now. They tried to sweep it under the rug, and I feel like that’s what they tried to do with my complaint”, said Marie.* Marie hesitated in coming forward because of the culture of men protecting one another. “[The connection] definitely impacted how my complaint went. More could have been done, and should have been done.” 

Two years after her conversation with the two CUPE Manitoba staff, a CUPE National representative reached out to Friesen and asked if she would like to formally send in a Victim Impact Statement to CUPE National. She did so on March 25, 2019. It was never followed up on. “I didn’t receive an email, I didn’t receive a phone call, no one asked me for specifics, no one asked me how I was doing.”  

“We continue to be told that there is a process, but when there’s zero followup when there are complaints brought forward to our union, we don’t see any action within that process,” said Friesen. “The pace at which we are moving is too slow. When [unions] continue to silence people, there’s no way for us to move forward.” 

“The biggest take away from this entire situation is that people shouldn’t be afraid to come forward, as a union there should be support in place.” said Marie. “The amount of male dominance in CUPE affects the way people speak up, if at all. That environment needs to change and it starts at the top of the organization”.

The CLC’s role

In January 2019, after the municipal election, a Canadian Labour Congress representative flew into Winnipeg and held an affiliate meeting, where documentation was provided by the ATU Local 1505 about what was going on at WLC.

“Everybody was able to air their grievances,” said Sokal. “The rep promised to come back to us with takeaways and solutions about how to address it. Nobody got back to anyone about anything. We never heard anything.” In March of 2019, Sokal was interviewed by a CLC representative. Sokal described the CLC investigation as “a complete joke”. 

Sokal made a Facebook post about the lack of action, and a week later the CLC report was published without reaching out to Sokal. Nine months later, Mariam Abou-Dib, the author of the report left for another job. “It went away and nothing happened. So many women had wanted to speak up and tell their stories about what they had faced, and nobody called them,” said Sokal. “The CLC lied when they said they didn’t know. They had flown to Winnipeg. They lied when they said they reached out to me — I never heard from [the rep]. She left, and it died.”

Sokal says that after she left the WLC in 2019, the CLC never contacted her. Dozens of union members and Winnipeg Labour Council delegates wrote to the CLC about how they had been mistreated. At that point, Sokal had spent more than 20 hours on the phone discussing the issues. “I gave the CLC a list of 50 names and phone numbers of women alone and 10-15 men who said they would give supportive statements and back me up.”

Her supporters reached out to her, asking Sokal if she had given the right contact information. “Not one person was called on that entire list. Not one person. That’s when I realized the CLC wasn’t serious.” Citing confidentiality, Sokal would not provide the list of members. 

The CLC did not respond to email, telephone, and text message requests for comment. 

“I can see why our labour movement is failing — when you feel you don’t have a place because the processes put in place don’t even allow for respectful conversations. Lots of people wanted me to run because no one had ever challenged their status quo. When you have a huge union being able to bully people with just their presence, their tattoos and their leather chaps and their vests. It’s no surprise that people don’t want to go to a meeting.” said Sokal. 

Sokal said she could no longer deal with the toll the harassment and culture was having on her mental health. “I woke up one day and was so upset that my life was so different than before [I ran for Council]. I didn’t want to get out of bed and fight with people who were supposed to be on my side.”

Demanding accountability

There are many examples of how harassment is persistent in the Winnipeg labour movement; however, pointing to systemic issues does not mean that there are not people in positions of power that are directly responsible for allowing this behaviour to persist, whether through preserving relationships with perpetrators of violence or staying silent. 

Those in the upper echelons of the labour movement must act immediately to ensure that all staff, members, and executives will not tolerate harassment and no longer protect people that abuse their power. CUPE National and the Candian Labour Congress must ensure justice and accountability are upheld in Manitoba. Educational workshops, policies, and anti-harassment campaigns are not enough. The CLC and CUPE National must do more to ensure the safety of its employees and members.

Resources  

If you are experiencing sexual violence at work or at home, and are located in Manitoba, you can recieve support at the 24/7 Sexual Assault Crisis Line by calling Toll free: 1-888-292-7565

Winnipeg: 204-786-8631

If you are outside of Manitoba and seeking support for abuse or violence at work or home, please click here. 

*Names and identifying details of certain individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

Challenging Alberta’s Austerity

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By C. Rockarts

On Thursday, February 27, over 7,000 teachers, students, and public sector workers rallied in Edmonton in support of maintaining quality public services.

The ‘March for What Matters’ was hosted by a coalition of teachers, parents, artists and students. It was organized in response to cuts to education, health care and the looming privatization of public services by Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party (UCP).

In the past several months, the UCP has announced 7,000 public service job cuts, cuts to education and health care, as well as attacks on the right to protest. The UCP has also made moves to take control of public sector workers’ pension funds (Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund, Local Authorities Pensions Plan, and the Public Services Pension Plan) to make risky investments in Alberta’s fossil fuel industry.  

Budget Day

The 2020 budget tabled yesterday will cut over 1,400 jobs, from acute cuts to post-secondary (400 jobs lost), education staff (244 jobs lost) government of Alberta (684 jobs lost), agriculture (277 jobs lost), and community and social services (136 jobs lost). 5% will be cut from the Population and Public Health budget, 6.3% cut from post-secondary operations, and a 13% cut to student aid. An estimated 17,436 full-time equivalent public-sector jobs (union and management positions in GOA, Boards & Agencies, Post-Secondary and AHS) are expected to be lost over the UCP’s term. 

Despite promises to maintain education funding and a universally accessible, publicly funded health care system, Kenney has attacked education through moving away from a per-student funding model, with $681 million set to come out of school board reserves and own-source revenues. This comes on top of the already existing issues in education, including unsustainable class sizes, cuts to support for students with special needs, and curriculum changes that control messaging around climate change. Funding for advanced education has also been slashed, with $346 million cut from the total operating expenses and an end to the tuition freeze and increasing tuition by 6.9% over the next four years.

In an interview with CBC, Heather Quinn, an Edmonton Public School teacher and one of the organizers of the march stated: “The government has made it very clear that they’re not going to back down from cutting public sector workers or the public sector in general. We have to keep the pressure on. That’s what it comes down to”.

The UCP has also used the sham of the MacKinnon Panel Report and a review of Alberta Health Services (AHS), which was released earlier this month, to justify a 1.4% decrease to AHS. Parts of the view call for the increased contracting out and privatization of long-term care subsidiaries, housekeeping, food services, laundry, and non-emergency patient transportation as well as recommends reducing spending on staff pay by reducing overtime. The implications of the review are expected to be implemented in May.

Nicole Heron, Registered Nurse (RN) at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit in Edmonton described how continuing cuts to healthcare will negatively impact nurses: “I fear that continued cuts to staffing levels and cuts to resources are going to specifically negatively affect frontline staff and our patients.” 

Privatization of health care workers is dangerous and leads to short staffing, increase in workplace violence, and the erosion of quality care. The government has announced that surgeries done in private clinics will increase by 30%, seeking to double the number of surgeries completed. Shifting money away from primary care will have disastrous consequences that will lead to a two-tier model that will only benefit those that can pay for health care. 

Protests under attack

In another assault on the right to protest, Kenney tabled Bill 1, The Critical Infrastructure Defence Act on Tuesday. This bill was in response to the recent rail blockades in Edmonton and across the country in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs’ opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The bill would subjugate individual protesters to fines of up to $10,000 and $25,000 for first and subsequent offences, with possible prison time of up to 6 months.

Juan Vargas Alba was among the speakers on Thursday, who spoke on post secondary issues and the need for solidarity across sectors and identities.

“Our struggle is tied together. Marching for what matters looks like marching for public education, for a curriculum that includes climate justice, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; it means inviting people to this rally and not being dishonest in that invitation.” said Vargas Alba, referencing criticism that march organizers had received regarding not letting Indigenous activists speak. “It means standing against Bill 1, because people who are fighting for their rights and fighting for justice don’t deserve to be criminalized.”

Calls for solidarity 

Towards the end of the rally, Paige and Portia Morin, two Indigenous land defenders from the Dene Tha’ First Nation spoke on Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people (MMIW), and how Indigenous students have to leave their reserves and give up their cultural knowledge in order to get quality education.”

Do not tell us to get off the stage when there are land defenders being arrested for this cause. We came here in solidarity with you, because we know that you don’t agree with your pensions being taken to destroy our land and our futures,”  said Morin, drawing a connection between the investment of Teacher’s pension plans into fossil fuel projects. “We call on you, that when we want to speak, you let us speak.” 

This budget is completely dependent on the return of higher oil prices, with the Alberta government expecting oil production to increase by 170,000 barrels per day and and $1.5 billion dollars of investment expected in the oil and gas industry this year. As seen in the victory this past week of Teck Resources Ltd., withdrawing its application to build Frontier, a $20.6 billion open-pit mining project in northern Alberta, the market for fossil fuels is starting to be seen as a sunset industry. 

Kenney ran on an anti-union platform, and will continue to decimate unions through pursuing right to work legislation, cutting jobs, and dividing workers against one another. In the coming months, workers in Alberta will have to organize on a mass scale if they want to stop the cuts. It is clear that the time for ineffective advertising campaigns and shallow lobbying efforts is coming to an end – Alberta has a rich history of strikes, wildcats and job action, and now is the time for the lessons of the past to be implemented. 

On Wednesday, March 4 at 12:00 p.m., a solidarity action with Wet’suwet’en will be held at Beaver Hills House park in Edmonton. For more information, click here.

Largest layoff in Alberta history proves workers aren’t Kenney’s priority

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Photo via REUTERS/Chris Wattie

by C Rockarts

On Saturday, March 28, two days before workers were set to return from Spring Break,  the UCP government announced the province’s largest mass layoff in history, with $128 million in cuts to funding for 26,000 educational assistants, bus drivers, substitute teachers and other K-12 support staff. The government says the cuts are temporary so money can be “re-allocated to support Alberta’s COVID-19 response.”  

Since March 15, COVID-19 has escalated in Alberta, with the government announcing mass closures of schools, forcing parents to come up with alternative education programming via distance learning. Education Minister Adriana LaGrange has removed funding for school districts for May and June, after promising that schools would receive their full funding two weeks prior. Alberta was the first province to cancel provincial assessment tests, with Grade 12 students set to take diploma exams at the end of the school year and graduate if eligible. No news has been released on how this will be possible. 

Around 16,000 Educational Assistants (EAs) have been providing continuity for students with learning (dis)abilities, autism, and mental health issues, while classes continue online. For many students, their needs increase with challenges that come with distance learning. The EAs have been callously deemed “non-essential” by the government, despite the critical support they have given to teachers since schools were closed. EAs distribute materials to students that don’t have access to virtual learning, set up online support meetings, make home calls and support teachers with producing online course materials. 

These workers provide critical one-on-one relationships and emotional and academic support to at-risk students. Randi W, an Educational Assistant, has been doing this work with Edmonton students, including teaching ASL, identifying animal tracks, and supporting students with science experiments. In her division, they have laid off all temps and that were covering leaves for other educational workers.

“I was very upset [when the layoffs were announced] because we have contracts and it’s against our collective agreement to lay us off and stop paying us,” she tells RankandFile.ca. “This government has ripped up our contract; they’re taking away our labour rights.” 

The cuts to bus drivers will be 51% of transportation funding. Despite the school closures, bus drivers have continued to work, delivering books and food to students who relied on nutritional programming offered by school boards. Drivers have also been delivering paper packages to Indigenous and rural students that don’t have access to digital learning tools. 

Kenney passes workers off to the Feds

Adriana LaGrange and Jason Kenney

Despite the Minister LaGrange promising two weeks prior to the layoff announcement that there would be no cuts to education, the move has forced school divisions to look at the ways these mass layoffs will impact their finances. Kenney had claimed that “school boards indicated to the minister of education that they intended to lay those individuals off as they were not working”, despite many boards stating that they did not call for layoffs. In Edmonton, the public school district is looking into the legality of breaking contracts with support staff two months before the semester is over. 

The Wild Rose, Medicine Hat and Prairie Rose School Divisions have all decided to delay or not to lay off educational assistants and support staff, and are looking for ‘cost savings’ in order to retain staff until the end of the school year. While this is admirable, the move is still likely to result in layoffs for supply teachers and bus drivers. The budget passed in October already cut 2% from education funding, and removed the class size initiative grant; it is likely that the UCP will use these divisions as an opening to justify future workforce cuts and reduced education budgets.

The Alberta government says the thousands of staff impacted by these layoffs can apply for Employment Insurance and Canada Emergency Response Benefit programs, passing responsibility for these workers off to the federal government.

The gaps in CERB have been well documented: gig workers, undocumented workers, students, and countless workers in other sectors who have had their hours reduced, but have not been laid off, will not be able to access the federal funding. Offloading workers to federal supports and not provincial supports will be disastrous for the hundreds of thousands of people that won’t qualify for EI or CERB. 

Meanwhile, whispers of a $15 billion dollar corporate bailout for the oil and gas industry circulate. 

Kenney puts corporate pipelines over people

Amidst these layoffs that have affected 1% of Alberta’s workforce, the government has invested $7.5 billion into the U.S. Keystone XL pipeline. Kenney has given $1.5 billion through a provincial government equity investment in TC Energy Corporation. Next year, they will provide an additional $6 billion loan guarantee. Kenney has claimed that the pipeline will create 6,800 jobs after putting tens of thousands of education workers out of a paycheck while the price of oil currently sits at less than $5 a barrel.

All this comes in the same week that Jason Nixon, Minister of the Environment suspended rules for environmental reporting for the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), the Water Act and the Public Lands Act. This news follows the Trump administration in waiving enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency. In a recent op-ed to Canadians “from oil and gas workers” 14 CEOs of oil corporations penned a letter calling on the Prime Minister to “save our industry”. 

This government made their intentions for education clear when they chose to take control of teacher’s pension plans and send them to be managed by The Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo.), which has directed much of its portfolio to propping up the oil and gas industry, with many teachers and labour leaders fearing that the $50 billion in retirement funds are being looked at as a potential source for corporate welfare to invest in the oilpatch. 

What kind of society do we want?

Conservative governments are taking advantage of this pandemic to force through pipelines, privatization and austerity. Continuing to follow the history of former premier Ralph Klein, Jason Kenney has forced workers into taking zeros on their contracts in order to protect their jobs, only to fire them. If workers are going to be “temporarily” laid off, it follows suit that there should be a moratorium, not a deferral, on rent payments, internet, utilities, mortgages, childcare costs, transportation, and medical services. 

In British Columbia, EA’s and substitutes are being sent to provide childcare to frontline workers, bus drivers have the ability to be redeployed to deliver essential medical equipment, food, and other supplies to frontline workers, library workers can pack food hampers, and custodians can be redeployed to clean health care facilities. What we need at this moment is a relief package to support workers, not bailouts for billionaires, corporations and sunset industries. 

“We need to define what kind of society we want to be. The most important thing is to make it clear that these cuts are not acceptable; this is not the time to be taking away support for students, but improving support.” says Randi W. “Children are not immune to this, their lives are being impacted. We don’t approve of what the government is doing and they’re not going to be re-elected.”

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Profits over health in Alberta

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By C. Rockarts

On Thursday, May 14, Alberta “relaunched the economy” and began the first phase of the plan to re-open golf courses, provincial parks, as well as some retail stores, daycares, and museums. While many of the prairie provinces have decided to re-open, the comparison of cases between Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba is stark. As of this publication, Alberta has had over 6,800 cases of coronavirus, with Saskatchewan and Manitoba having 630 and 292 respectively. 89 people in Alberta have died, with the majority of cases being concentrated in Calgary. 61 of these deaths occurred at long-term care facilities.

Outbreak

Alberta has been the province with the largest single-site outbreak of COVID-19 in Canada. Two workers have died and over 900 workers were infected at a Cargill meat packing plant in High River. Workers have been raising workplace safety issues there for over a month. The second largest single site case of COVID-19 is at the JBS Canada beef facility in Brooks, where approximately 390 workers have tested positive for the virus. With Calgary and Brooks planning to re-open Monday, the question is, should the province be so quick to open before we have eliminated active cases? Given that many other countries have been unsuccessful in their relaunch and early reopening has resulted in second and third resurgences of the virus, the reopening plan should give workers pause.

Before the first reports of coronavirus were confirmed in Alberta, premier Jason Kenney and the UCP were set to freeze healthcare funding (reducing spending by 9%) and privatize the system. At the end of November, the Kenney government planned on firing 740 nurses, 3,000 full time equivalencies (FTEs) in general support services, 400 auxiliary nursing care FTEs, and over 1000 professional healthcare workers.

Alberta’s public service commissioner Tim Grant made clear the indication to privatize home-care, nursing, palliative and paediatric care, government legal work, emergency, non-emergency and all patient transfer ambulance services, as well as privatize portions of Alberta Precision Laboratories (formerly Alberta Public Laboratories). This also follows the proposed cancellation of upgrades to Alberta Health Services (AHS) laundry facilities, which was set to be contracted out.

The provincial budget indicated that these significant cuts were coming to the healthcare system, with $54 million cut from hospital operating system and $38 million cut from diagnostics. Much of the budget stemmed from the $2 million dollar government commissioned report from Ernst & Young, which reviewed AHS in order to “drive greater efficiencies, examine administrative costs and improve access and service levels”. The report recommended integrating public-private partnerships into the healthcare system, cutting laundry, housekeeping and food services, and diverting public money to for-profit private companies. 

Federal funding and healthcare in Alberta

Since the mid 1980’s, healthcare in Alberta has become one the biggest targets for privatization and cuts. Hospitals were quickly targeted as the biggest line in the provincial budget, followed by physician compensation, which has recently been a target of the present UCP government. 

In 1984, the Canada Health Act was passed, which required provinces to meet five set criteria in order to receive cash transfers to pay for health-care programs. The five principles are that care must be universal, portable, comprehensive, accessible, and publicly administered. As coverage under the Act has eroded and more services are delivered outside of hospitals, for profit health care providers have increased and the federal government has shifted the onus of paying for particular medicare services to provinces. This has resulted in austerity governments across the country taking this as an opportunity to move services into the private sector. Because the CHA is optional for provinces, there has been minimal enforcement of the Act, resulting in private health facilities receiving public provincial and federal dollars.

The federal Liberal government has been systematically reducing the transfers to the provinces that help fund healthcare by tens of billions of dollars since the 1970’s, and has slowly moved away from a 50/50 cost share agreement with provinces. According to a 2017 report commissioned by the Canadian Health Coalition and Ontario Health Coalition, the Trudeau government has created a massive deficit in health services, with Alberta making up $3.43 billion of the $31 billion dollar shortfall nationally. Today, federal funding is only 20%, and medicare advocates are calling on the federal government to cover a minimum of 25% by 2025.

Spin doctors vs. doctors 

Alberta has had a history of austerity. Ralph Klein began his premiership by claiming that healthcare spending had tripled during the last administration. Klein’s response was to gut spending by 25% by the end of his first term, resulting in Alberta plummeting provincial health spending to the second-lowest per capita of all the provinces. Hospitals shut down, the Calgary hospital was blown up, and over 10,000 health care professionals left the province. The effects of Klein’s assault on workers resulted in a 45% reduction in the public sector.

In 1994, Klein regionalized the entire healthcare service, abolishing 250 hospitals, public health boards, and long-term care. They were replaced with 17 health authorities in an effort to pay down the debt, but resulted in dramatically reducing hospital beds (4.5 to 2.4 bed per 1,000 people). That same year, the federal, provincial and territorial health ministers met, and all but Alberta’s minister Shirley McClellan (Klein’s first Minister of Health) agreed to ensure that the CHA requirements were upheld and that the development of private clinics funded partially by the public system and by patients was regulated. Today, McClellan sits on the Board of Covenant Health with former premier Ed Stelmach, which is the largest Catholic healthcare provider in Canada (and refuses to provide abortions and medically assisted dying) and runs 71 out of 79 palliative care beds in Edmonton.

In 1999, Klein announced his plan to privatize healthcare and open up the system to private funding through Bill 11: “The Health Care Protection Act”, legislation which would allow for public money to be used to pay private, for-profit clinics and perform a range of procedures only in hospitals, as well as authorize private clinics to keep patients overnight and specialize in particular surgical operations. When the Bill passed, advocacy group Friends of Medicare and healthcare unions across the province organized one of the largest campaigns against the Klein government, which had nightly protests attended by thousands of Albertans. 

Earlier this year, Health Minister Tyler Shandro implemented new rules that froze physician compensation. In response, the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is now suing the government for bargaining in bad faith and bringing the province back to the table. Shandro made headlines when he attacked and harassed physicians for calling attention to his wife’s position as Co-Founder of Vital Partners, an insurance company that allegedly made money off changes to the physician reimbursement process. While this has since been disproved, it is notable that Vital Partners connects customers with private coverage for diagnostic testing.

Many physicians are warning of the same drain that nurses and doctors faced in the 90’s during the Klein cuts, which would see a mass migration of health care providers out of the province to find more profitable work.

Privatization of Labs

For decades, conservative governments in Alberta have attempted to privatize public lab services, leaving the system under resourced. In 1995, Klein privatized lab services in Edmonton regional hospitals, including contracting out laboratory services to DynaLife Dx at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. In Calgary, the Health Resources Centre (HRC) was a private surgery facility after being more expensive than alternative public services, failed to improve wait times, and cost Albertans millions of dollars following its bankruptcy.  In 2006, after a decade of issues with delayed service and mixed-up test results, lab services in both Edmonton and Calgary were brought back into the public sector. 

When the NDP rose to power in 2015, one of the first things they did was roll back the privatization of lab services, promising to phase out DynaLife and ensure that all Alberta labs were brought under provincial ownership by 2022. This came with a promise to construct a ‘superlab’ in Edmonton, which would have filled the infrastructure gaps existing labs have been dealing with. 

Three days into forming government, the UCP cancelled construction, despite $23 million dollars already invested in the planning and construction of the project. The UCP has additionally used the MacKinnon report and Ernst and Young review of AHS to inoculate Albertans towards the privatization of healthcare, including selling off public long-term care providers Capital Care, and Carewest. It is worth noting that COVID-19 deaths in Canada are approximately four times the rate in private long-term care facilities than in public facilities.

Not Going Back

The UCP continues to maintain that the economy is ready to re-open despite the decades of cuts and deteriorating capacity to the public system. The province has stated that in order to shift to the next stage of re-opening, they want to see “stronger international border control, an increase in provincial testing rates, and continued contact tracing”. 

What we need now is not increased criminalization of migrant workers who make up a majority of the workforce that is continuing to clean workplaces, supply Canada’s food, and provide front-line care. Workers and labour organizations in Alberta must demand major investment in public health care jobs and infrastructure to make up for the decades of reckless austerity and privatization that has left our system worse off in slowing down the spread. What we need now is an end to policing and state surveillance of primarily racialized communities under the guise of limiting exposure rates.   

Negotiations have been suspended since COVID-19 began, with AUPE and UNA having ensured job guarantees until May 31. There has been no promise from the government that they will not follow through with the planned healthcare cuts once the pandemic is over. Shandro promised last month that healthcare aides would receive a $2 raise, a wage increase that has yet to be seen by these workers. 
Conservatives in Alberta have long claimed that because healthcare makes up 40% of the budget, it should be the first thing on the chopping block. Coronavirus has exposed the gaps that have left workers behind in the name of colossal profits and corporate bailouts. Workers must reject the frame of having to choose between people’s lives and the economy, and demand federal funding and provincial investment in public healthcare to meet the needs of an aging and growing population. 

The battle in Edmonton for a new kind of transit

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By C. Rockarts

In March, cities across Canada implemented fare-free public transit and back door boarding to encourage social distancing and curb the spread of COVID-19. On March 20, the City of Edmonton moved to temporarily suspend fare collection on all Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) buses, LRT and DATS services. Now, as many cities ‘relaunch’ their economies, municipalities are starting to bring fares back, leaving the workers that have relied on transit throughout the pandemic behind. 

Fighting layoffs and privatization

Since the pandemic began in March, Edmonton transit workers have faced layoffs, redeployment and high levels of anxiety on the job. Scheduling has also undergone major changes; with schools no longer being in session, ridership has decreased drastically. The City of Edmonton has argued that the decrease in ridership has created less of a need for transit workers, laying off 300 transit workers in Edmonton. At least 3,800 transit workers have been laid off nationally.

There have been major workplace changes for transit operators since fares were made free in March. Changes in the protocols and frequency of cleaning, overcrowding, and safety issues between riders and operators.

The need for cleaning services has drastically increased, with many workers being redeployed to cleaning services for buses and transit centres. At the beginning of the pandemic, the City of Edmonton briefly contracted out cleaning services. ATU Local 569 organized and won Mayor Don Iveson and city councillors to agreeing to train laid off union members to do the cleaning work of private contractors. 

Overcrowding has been another main issue for transit riders and operators. As of June 9, ridership on ETS was up approximately 50 percent from pre-COVID levels from its low of 28 percent since the pandemic began in March.

In a letter to City Council, Steve Bradshaw, President of ATU Local 569, expressed deep concern about increased ridership, stating, “The simple, obvious solution the Union sees to this problem is to ramp up service levels co-incident with the increase of ridership.”

Symptoms of poverty and homelessness

In the absence of a provincial housing strategy, zero-fare transit has also allowed many people facing homelessness to find shelter on buses and in transit stations. In Calgary, the municipality planned on housing people in hotels during the pandemic, but that plan was rejected by the province in April. Many who have used Edmonton’s Expo Centre drop-in space have stated that they were unable to access services like showers and laundry and didn’t feel safe utilizing the services. 

Meanwhile, transit workers are expressing safety concerns regarding “non-destination” riders who become aggressive at the end of the line when they finish their routes. “Parts of the solution would work in a bigger picture of fare-free transit, where drivers could be made safe,” says Bradshaw. “If homelessness is the problem, let’s get busy and fix that while we’re at it. It can be done.” 

Caitlin Hart, an organizer with Free Transit Edmonton, says systemic issues that already existed are only being more illuminated by the pandemic. “If homeless people are riding the bus just to have somewhere to stay, there are clear policy solutions that can fix these issues.”

Free Transit Edmonton is a local organization campaigning for free and accessible transit. The group believes that mobility is a universal right and public transit needs to be reliable, efficient, and accessible. It also believes ensuring safe working conditions for transit operators, but doesn’t believe that increased policing and criminalization of transit riders is the answer.

“We don’t think increasing fare enforcement is an effective strategy for supporting Edmontonians through COVID-19 – especially not for those seeking shelter from a situation that is outside of their control.” 

https://youtu.be/JXJpxvkb9Y0

Worker safety and fare-free transit

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, organizers have been asking questions regarding how to ensure transit worker safety and poverty can be addressed. One response has been Free Transit Edmonton’s “Fare Free Forever” campaign.

“We launched the campaign to call on Edmonton city council to keep public transit fare free and to connect with communities to make transit accessible for everyone”, says Hart. “Fare-free transit has the potential to address both social inequality and environmental sustainability. Making transit free to users offers a transformative solution for addressing systemic bias and racial and economic discrimination, isolation and lack of access to services.”

“The city could provide more funding for social services, have crisis responders who can arrange inner city transport, and improve access to social supports. These are just some potential solutions to this issue”, says Hart. “So many drivers face assaults because of fare disputes, so our campaign wants to focus on protecting transit workers while ensuring that vulnerable people are supported.” 

Union support

ATU Canada has endorsed the movement for free transit and supports the move towards a fare-free system. In an interview with RankandFile.ca, Di Nino stated that making transit free is possible if governments are willing to invest in it.

“We need to be cautious of what fare-free transit is going to look like. We can’t call for it if governments are not willing, as part of a National Transit strategy, to invest money into the concept.”

In a national poll commissioned by ATU Canada, 91 percent of Canadians agree that governments have a responsibility to ensure that people everywhere can access safe, reliable and affordable transit.

“Governments have a responsibility to move to fare-free transit, and this is how we deal with mobility rights, climate change issues and so on,” says De Nino. “When we say affordable public transit, we also mean fare-free public transit.”

Local 569 president Steve Bradshaw is also in support of the concept.

“It’s an equity issue. Nobody expects you to pay for fire services or a library card – these are things that ought to be paid for out of the tax base. People ought to be able to transport themselves on our public transportation system. That’s our job as taxpayers and citizens; to provide for one another.”

“Federal Funding Now“

ATU Canada, the country’s largest transit union, has called on the federal government for $5 billion in emergency funding for transit, which is supported by 80 percent of people in the country. In addition, the union is also demanding the provincial government take action to protect workers during COVID-19. 

“The fact that governments haven’t stepped up and recognized transit operators alongside many of the front-line workers is extremely concerning. We’ve seen that with the lack of concern for public transit across this nation in the failure to provide a stimulus package for public transit.“ says John Di Nino, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Canada (ATU).

The federal government has neglected public transit during the pandemic, all the while bailing out banks and large corporations, with special treatment being afforded to the oil and gas industry. The fact is that investment in public transit makes sense economically; for every dollar invested in public transit amounts to three dollars back into local economies. 

Di Nino believes public transit systems need sustainable, long-term dedicated operational funding. The ‘Federal Funding Now’ campaign’s demands are the first step towards  the broader goal of not only adequately funding service through the pandemic, but  also ensuring jobs are protected for the long-term as part of a National Transit Strategy. Despite the ATU’s targeted demands, elected leaders have continued to pass the buck between all levels of government. 

While Di Nino knows that Canada has been lucky in comparison to other countries’ number of coronavirus cases, he states, “there needs to be a recognition of the importance of transit in this country, and what those frontline workers actually do for our communities, putting themselves in harm’s way.”

Despite the fact that many are calling transit drivers heroes in this moment of crisis, employers and transit authorities have not recognized the value of transit operators, some of whom are moving COVID-19 patients into hospitals.

“How do you not recognize these workers as part of the overall fight against this pandemic?” asks Di Nino.  

Transit, racism and policing

Since the eruption of protests against police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd, bus drivers in Minneapolis and NYC have refused to drive arrested protesters to police stations and holding cells. Minneapolis based ATU Local 1005 released a solidarity statement to the protestors, with drivers publicly refusing to transport protesters to jail. The ATU International Union and fellow transit workers have pledged that their members will not put themselves in danger by transporting arrested protesters for law enforcement services. 

In a statement by ATU Canada, Di Nino makes clear links between the role of unions and the ongoing acts of police brutality and anti-black racism, stating: “As transit workers, we know that transit is a space plagued by racism. We’ve seen the mounting evidence of anti-black racism in fare evasion ticketing, in exclusive transit planning that doesn’t service marginalized communities, and in the way that people of colour in Canada are disproportionately impacted by exposure to COVID-19 on public transit. We know that public transit can be a site of injustice and we fight for more equitable outcomes.” 

Last week in Edmonton, over 15,000 attended the Fight for Equity protest, organized by community members with support from the Black Lives Matter Edmonton chapter. While it was a peaceful protest, if asked if Bradshaw would ever transport protestors to jail he commented: “Fortunately we haven’t had to deal with that problem here, but I would be diametrically opposed to using our members and our union to transport protesters. That sure the hell is not the purpose of public transportation”.

Making the system fare-free would result in millions in savings from abolishing fare enforcement, which fails to recover a small percentage of money compared to both the financial and human cost of enforcing fares. In a petition signed by over 10,000 people in Edmonton, the local Black Lives Matter chapter is demanding that the City of Edmonton never vote to increase the EPS budget, repeal the $75 million dollar budget increase promised to EPS in 2019, and directly reinvest this money into affordable housing, mental health programming, reinvest in community-led organizations, and make public transit free. 

According to Edmonton-based researcher Bashir Mohamed, 70 percent of Transit Peace officers’ time is spent on fare evasion. In 2019, Edmonton journalist Moira Wyton released a damning report that showed Indigenous people in the city are ticketed 7 times more than other riders and make up 43.8 percent of fare evasion tickets. Making up only 4.5 percent of Edmonton’s population, Black riders receive 7 percent of Edmonton’s fare evasion tickets. Mohamed advocates for the elimination of Transit Peace officers as necessary to prevent systemic discrimination and use of force on Black, Indigenous and racialized riders.

TAKE ACTION

  • Sign the ATU petition calling on the federal government to invest in transit, click here.
  • Sign the Black Lives Matter Edmonton Invest in Community; Divest from Policing petition, click here.
  • For more information on Free Transit Edmonton, you can go to freetransitedmonton.ca.

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