By AFL Staff

The Alberta government and the Provincial Health Authorities of Alberta (PHAA) are sadly mistaken if they think large fines will stop unions from doing what’s necessary to protect the interests of their members, says the president of Alberta’s largest labour organization.

"They’ve got another think coming if they think they can fine the labour movement into submission," says Audrey Cormack, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "We at the AFL will stand behind AUPE and its members because we believe they did the right thing. If that means helping AUPE or other unions find the money to pay fines, then that’s what we’ll do."

Cormack’s comments were made in response to the large fines levied against the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) for their recent two-day hospital strike. She was also responding to comments made by Clint Dunford, Minister of Human Resources, who warned that the government will take even stronger action to stop similar strikes in the future.

Cormack says the fines are unfair because Alberta’s harsh labour laws left the union and its members with no choice but to strike. "The government has stripped away the democratic right of health care workers to withdraw their labour – and then taken advantage of their own lopsided arbitration rules to unfairly restrain the wages and benefits of the workers and to impose ever harsher working conditions," said Cormack.

"We have always insisted that the right to strike is inalienable," said Cormack. "Even the most brutal police states cannot ever really take away workers’ right to strike – and democratic nations should be ashamed to even try."