Good evening and welcome to Jasper. My name is Les Steel and I'm Secretary Treasurer of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

I'd like to begin this evening by welcoming all of you to the AFL/CLC annual school. As you can see, we have a pretty big crowd here tonight. In fact, we've set a new record for enrollment. Usually we have about 120 or 130 students. But this year, more than 170 union members and activists have enrolled.

All of us at the AFL are very pleased by the turnout. From our point of view, it shows that there is something very positive happening in the Alberta labour movement. In particular, it shows that more people -- people like you -- are taking an interest in their unions. It also shows that unions are more willing than ever to stand up for what they believe in -- and that they want their members to be properly prepared to lead the fight.

So -- overall -- the large enrollment is a very good thing. But, unfortunately, it will also cause a few small problems. The immediate problem is class size. In a way we have become victims of our own success. We didn't want to turn away any interested students, so some of the classes are going to be a bit larger than we would have liked.

We apologize in advance for any inconvience the large classes may cause. Next year, we will definitely bring in more instructors and add more sections of certain courses to meet the demand. In the meantime, we will do everything we possibily can to accommodate the large enrollment and make sure the school runs smoothly.

But despite a few small glitches and the usual headaches that come with organizing an event of this size, we are feeling extremely good about what's been planned for the next week.

From the look of things, this school is shaping up to be one of the best we've ever offered. The signs of success are all around us. We have a room that's overflowing with eager students -- many who are here for the first time. We have brought together some of the best union educators and instructors in the country. And we are offering a wide range of interesting courses -- all of which will give you the skills and confidence you need to be more successful in bargaining; in organizing and in your general union activism.

Before I go into detail about the courses, I'd just like to say a few words about the AFL and the work we've been doing over the past year. I would also like to talk briefly about some of the important things that have been going on in the Alberta labour movement as a whole.

As most of you have probably noticed, unions in this province have been making their presence felt more and more lately. We've been standing up, we've been fighting and we've been winning.

The resurgence of union pride most likely started two years ago this month, when AUPE and CUPE members took on the government during the Calgary laundry workers strike.

We all remember the time -- people were saying that no one could made the Klein government back down. But the union movement did just that -- we were the first to make him "blink" on the issue of health care cuts.

More recently, UFCW took on Safeway and Cargill and won tremendous public support. And right now, union members from CUPW and UFCW are on the picket lines, fighting for fairness and decent wages.

These are all concrete examples of what unions and union members can do when they take collective action.

But our victories haven't been restricted to the picket line -- we've also been making our presence felt in the broader community.

For example, we stopped the government from introducing a Right-to-Work law here in Alberta. We also played a significant role in stopping Hotel de Health from establishing a private, for-profit hospital in Leduc. And we helped re-shape the political landscape by putting representatives from our party -- they New Democrats -- back in the Legislature.

Thanks to events like our Alternative Growth Summit, we are also playing an important part in shifting the political debate in this province away from a single-minded focus on issues like deficits and the debt. We are shifting the debate towards the issues that working Albertans really care about -- like wages, job security, health care and education.

More and more Albertans are starting to realize that there are alternatives to the governments "business-first" approach to economics. They're starting to realize that the the world being built by people like Ralph Klein, Mike Harris and Conrad Black is not a particularly nice place to live.

The bottom line is that unions are among the only institutions strong enough to stand up to these kind of politicians and business people. We are the only allies that ordinary working people have.

That's why this school is so important. Unions have an important job to do in our society. But to do this job properly, we must educate our members and the public. We must learn the skills and develop the confidence to organize and mobilze.

This week you will be given many of the tools you will need to make your union stronger. You will learn about bargaining; you will learn about organizing; you will learn about labour history; and you will learn about the important role that unions must play in getting this country back on its feet.

At the end of this week, it is our hope that you will all better prepared to meet the challenges that confront your unions. On behalf of the AFL, I would like to congratulate you for taking the time to develop you skills. The labour movement will be stronger for it.

Please enjoy yourselves. Work hard. Respect your classmate and their views. But most importantly -- learn. Thank you once again for coming.