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The Building Trades of Alberta (BTA) has been assured by the premier that government will hold off on trying to make the province a right-to-work jurisdiction.

The organization, which represents more than 60,000 skilled trades workers from 18 Alberta local unions provincewide, was upset that the United Conservative Party (UCP) passed a policy at its annual general meeting in October which suggested Alberta become a right-to-work jurisdiction.

Afterwards, the building trades asked for and received a meeting with Premier Jason Kenney and Labour Minister Jason Copping to discuss the matter. BTA executive director Terry Parker and chairman Ian Robb attended the Oct. 27 meeting on behalf of the building trades unions.

The leaders and trades apparently came to an agreement at the meeting that right-to-work is off the table because it is unconstitutional. Kenney gave the building trades assurances that government would not pursue such a policy.

“We appreciate Premier Kenney and Minister Copping meeting with us, listening to our concerns and engaging in a productive discussion,” said Parker. “The premier made it abundantly clear that his top priority is getting Albertans back to work, not pursuing futile ideological fights.

“We value our working relationship with the province and all industry stakeholders whose decisions directly affect the lives of workers across the province.”

The premier’s acknowledgement on right-to-work comes on the heels of a letter sent by the BTA to Kenney recently following the passage of Policy 3 at the UCP meeting. The policy, which passed with 81 per cent of members voting yes to the resolution, suggested that Alberta become a right-to-work jurisdiction.

This would have a destructive snowball effect for many small businesses, shops, restaurants and more,

— Terry Parker

Building Trades of Alberta

The resolution proposed that labour legislation be amended so that no worker can be required to join a collective bargaining unit. Further, the resolution would prevent employers from being required to deduct union dues without written confidential consent from an employee.

Any coercion, intimidation or undue influence on the employee to join and/or pay should have specific, meaningful penalties and sanctions, the resolution states.

The UCP’s decision to pass the policy and the letter released by the BTA sparked conversations between the organization, Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU), North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), TC Energy and others.

“We appreciate the support of the Building Trades Unions and industry on both sides of the border, as well as the leadership and advocacy from NABTU president Sean McGarvey, whose country has seen the effects right-to-work has had on workers in several states,” said Parker.

“The organized skilled building trades is a network of hardworking women and men from across North America who come together to build and maintain everything from our schools, bridges and hospitals, to our refineries, pipelines, skyscrapers and more.”

Parker said one of the cross-border projects is Keystone XL, which the trades are pleased to see the province invest in.

The investment signalled, he said, strong support for the province’s energy industry and the workers who rely on it to feed their families, including many from BTA affiliates who have worked hard to bring the pipeline south.

In an Oct. 19 letter to the premier, Parker outlined the concerns that the skilled trades have with right-to-work legislation.

“I, along with the more than 60,000 hard-working Albertans within the Building Trades of Alberta, are concerned over this development,” he said. “And while I understand just 670 UCP members voted in favour of Policy 3, I strongly urge the province not to adopt this party policy as government policy.

“Not only is right-to-work unlikely to survive the Charter challenges it would surely produce, it could also lower Albertans’ wages, benefits, protections and more by curbing the ability of unions to collectively bargain. This would do serious harm to both union and non-union workers provincewide, and result in devastating economic consequences.”

Parker said the reduction to household incomes right-to-work would yield could result in the further inability of most Albertans to contribute to local economies.

“This would have a destructive snowball effect for many small businesses, shops, restaurants and more,” he wrote. “We can’t let that happen. We all know our economy is in desperate need of support given the current double-whammy of COVID-19 and the collapse of commodity prices.”

Parker noted less income means less tax revenue, which will reduce provincial income and only add to Alberta’s multi-billion-dollar debt load.

Moreover, it needs to be said that despite its clever name, right-to-work does not guarantee people a job nor does it create work, he stated.

His letter noted there are several more concerns with right-to-work he wanted to discuss with the premier at his earliest convenience.

With the most recent fiscal update highlighting Alberta is close to $100-billion in debt, has an economy expected to contract by nine per cent, and predicts no improvement to unemployment numbers until next year, Parker said everyone needs to pull together to do what’s best for the province and those who work hard every day to make it run.

Right-to-work is not that way, he stated.