LABOR STRUGGLES IN WESTERN CANADA
By G.
Dunkel
Transit contract settled in Calgary,
Alberta
Transit workers in Calgary, Alberta, voted by 91 percent
April 12 to ratify a new contract and end a 50-day strike.
The deal to end the strike was brokered between the
Amalgamated Transit Union's international president, Jim La
Sala, and Calgary Mayor Al Duerr.
Money issues were settled by the middle of March. What
kept the workers out was the issue of using part-time,
low-paid drivers for smaller buses and shuttles to replace
full-time, reasonably well-paid drivers and full-size buses.
Calgary Transit fought the union to a standstill on this one
issue, but the president of the local said it would be
brought up in 2003, when the contract expires.
The contract also allows union members accused of
misconduct during the strike to grieve CT's discipline. It
will also create some four-day work weeks for long-term
drivers.
Alberta is the most conservative and probably the
wealthiest province in Canada. The local press had nothing
but scorn for the strikers.
The city subsidized taxi fares for low-income city
residents, expanded downtown parking areas and let the
parking monopoly rake in exorbitant profits, but the media
attacked the union's demand "one bus, one driver, one wage"
as an attempt to usurp management prerogatives from the city,
which owns the system.
But it was workers who built and operate the system. They
obviously felt that they should have a strong say in how
their work is done.
Nurse wins Winnipeg suit
Before 1998, when Winnipeg nurse Kelly Lesiuk was off
work, she collected Employment Insurance. Lesiuk, a mother,
then had to work part-time because she needed time to care
for her child. In the meantime, the government changed the
employment law and required workers to demonstrate an
"attachment" to their job by working at least 700 hours a
year to qualify for EI.
When Lesiuk applied for EI in 1998 as she was having her
second child, she fell a few hours short of 700, and was
denied it.
Lesiuk felt the rule was unfair to women, who are more
likely to work part-time because of child-care issues. She
sued.
On April 5, Judge Roger Salhany decided that "when a
mother works part-time because of her unpaid parental
responsibilities, she should not receive inferior Employment
Insurance coverage."
Salhany said the rules violate the equality provisions
under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada's
constitution. Under the Employment Insurance Act, the case
now goes to a board of referees to see if Lesiuk will get
retroactive benefits.
This decision itself does not overturn the EI law, but can
be used as a precedent in other cases. If the government
appeals, it risks extending the precedent or even seeing the
law overturned.
"This is a victory for women and a victory for justice.
Our own research has been documenting this for years," said
Canadian Labor Congress Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Riche.
Newfoundland public
service workers win strike
Nearly 20,000 Newfoundland Public Employees union members
struck the first week of April, demanding a 15-percent raise
over three years. The province offered 13 percent over three
years.
Tom Hanlon, president of the Newfoundland Association of
Public Employees, the bigger of the two unions involved,
explained the decision to strike in an April 4 broadcast on
CTV.
"The public service hasn't had a decent raise for 11
years. We live in the province with the highest cost of
living, regrettably the lowest per capita income, and we have
simply had enough. And we're not going to take any more of
it," he said.
Although public employees in Canada generally have the
right to strike, the provincial legislature often passes a
law forcing them back. When CTV asked Hanlon what the unions
would do about a back-to- work law, he responded: "If they
move to the legislature to legislate us back to work we're
not going to respond to it. We have no other choice."
There was overwhelming public support for the strike,
despite the problems created when Newfoundland was hit with a
big blizzard during the strike. The blizzard came on top of
the record-breaking 19 feet that had already accumulated--and
the snow plow operators represented by NAPE weren't
plowing.
Some large towns, like Bonavista with 5,000 people, were
completely cut off. The main highway linking the capital, St.
John's, with the rest of the province was completely blocked
in several spots. On the Burin peninsula, southwest of St.
John's, workers were snowed in either at home or at work.
In emergencies, the union responsibly dispatched snow
plows to clear the roads and make way for ambulances.
St. John's Mayor Andy Wells admitted to CTV that despite
all the problems people had in coping with the snow and the
lack of other public services, there was "a lot of public
support for the public employees who have been really hard
done by."
Given the strength and determination of the unions and
their public support, Premier Roger Grimes had to give the
unions what they were asking for.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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