Why Targeted Programs Benefit Winnipeg Students

And that's how The Alberta Employee was born. That summer, I also released the, where I speak with members of the working class about their life stories and their individual labour journeys.

Guiding minds

Now, let's get to the reason I am here today: labour rights, employee advocacy, and the existing landscape for Alberta's post-secondary workers. I finished from what is now Lethbridge Polytechnic in 2001. I finished their multimedia production program, and my practicum ended up turning into a full-time task, where I worked for 9 years before being laid off throughout budget cuts thanks to frozen operating grants from the provincial federal government at the time.

Too, my very first paid speaking gig was at Olds College. After my partner got her master's degree, among the top places to hire her to teach was what was then Red Deer College. Needless to say, I have an unique place in my heart for the colleges and institutes in Alberta.

Examining Efficient Youth Services Across the Local Location

Because the UCP took power in 2019 under Jason Kenney, they have actually presented several pieces of legislation that have made things more difficult for workers. The very first change was really presented in their second bill, the so-called Open For Service Act, which worked in the summertime of 2019. This bill lowered the base pay for student employees under 18 from $15 an hour to $13 an hour.

On top of that, they have not altered the adult minimum wage the entire time they've remained in office, and now it's the lowest minimum wage in the country, for the first time in over a years. This is the second longest duration since 1965 that Alberta minimum wage employees have not seen a wage increase.

Prior to this bill becoming law, workers might bank their overtime hours at 1.5 times their worked hours. If someone worked 3 hours, they might bank those 3 hours, and then when they wanted to take it as time off, they could take 4.5 hours off instead of 3 hours.

After Costs 2 was passed, employers could provide the banked time as straight time, which encouraged them to pay out overtime, rather than allow employees to take the additional time off. Costs 2 decreased statutory vacation pay, particularly for part-time and casual workers. Prior to the bill, workers received holiday pay no matter whether they worked the vacation and no matter whether the stat vacation fell on an arranged workday.

Planning for Growth in the Upcoming Winnipeg Term

The following year, the UCP federal government presented Expense 32, otherwise referred to as the Bring back Balance in Alberta's Workplaces Act. This new legislation required unions to now get explicit consent from their members before they might use profits collected from charges for social or political causes. This increased the administrative concerns on unions, which implied extra costs, and it restricted their ability to use funds for advocacy for the more comprehensive working class.

They more than doubled the certification procedure timeline. Before, workers might hold an accreditation vote simply 10 calendar days after they used to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for certification. Now, they need to wait 20 organization days, essentially an entire month. This gives employers more time to unionbust.

Now, they can challenge procedural or technical concerns on the certification procedure itself, such as minor errors in the application, supporting documents that were filed incorrectly, timing of the application, scope of which job titles are included in the proposed bargaining unit, and whether the union utilized so-called browbeating to gain assistance among the employees.

Is a Quality Learning Program the Best Option for Winnipeg Families?

Remember that red tape is just a business-friendly euphemism for deregulation, which is nothing more than the elimination of guidelines. Most policies fall into 3 camps: protect employees, protect the public, and secure the environment. Removing these guidelines implies increasing risk for workers, increasing danger for the general public, and increasing risk for the environment.

Specific to workers, it weakened office safety. Prior to the costs, joint health and wellness committees were mandatory in workplaces with 20 or more employees and worksite health and wellness representatives were required at worksites with between 5 and 19 workers. Under the new costs, the requirements shifted to being risk-based, being obligatory only in workplaces with higher risk of mishap, injuries, or direct exposure to hazardous conditions.