| Canada’s changing business environment and Alberta’s hot economy are leading straight to labour unrest in this province, according to two University of Calgary economists.
Frank Atkins, an economist at the University of Calgary, says Albertans should come to expect more labour disputes as workers demand higher wages.
"This is a big transitional problem we’re having," he says. "We don’t have a big enough population to keep the growth growing. There is a lot of wage pressure."
He says that with fewer workers moving here from British Columbia because of improved economic conditions in that province, Alberta businesses are faced with paying higher wages and trying to recruit workers from other parts of the country.
"Wages are already going up and they may need to continue to go up," says Atkins.
Two separate labour disputes are currently ongoing in Calgary, with workers at Telus Corp. and Calgary Casino now walking the picket lines. A third labour disruption at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ended with a tentative agreement being signed earlier this week. The most recent dispute is at Calgary Casino where employees went on strike on September 23.
"Calgary Casino pays wages that are, on average, $2 to $3 per hour less than other casinos in the city," says D'Arcy Lanovaz, Alberta president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Lanovaz says the 435 CUPE members on strike at Calgary Casino – 80 per cent of whom are classified as full-time employees – are part of a larger issue with many workers in Calgary, and across the province, believing they have lost ground economically in the past decade.
"We have people saying, ‘I’m earning less today than I was 10 years ago, and there is a whopping surplus,’" says Lanovaz. "Something has gone off the rails."
As president of Alberta’s largest union, Lanovaz says the positive economic conditions in the province have led unionized employees to expect that they will at least be offered raises that keep pace with the cost of living.
"They need to put food on the table," he says. "They need more than a one per cent raise."
Another work stoppage having an impact on Calgarians is the Telus labour dispute. More than 13,700 Telus workers in B.C. and Alberta – including more than 2,800 affected by the situation in Calgary – have been without a contract since late 2000. The Telus picketers represented by the Telecommunications Workers Union say they have been "locked out" of their jobs since July 21. The company describes the dispute as a "strike."
Whether it’s called a strike or lockout, Chris Bruce, an economist at the University of Calgary, says it’s just another indication of a changing business climate in Canada.
"It’s a big squeeze for Telus," says Bruce.
He explains that Telus is not only facing demands from workers, but increased competition from companies offering new forms of technology, such as Voice Over Internet Protocol, which allows long distance calls to be placed for a low cost.
"Telus was a monopoly and now they are in a much more competitive world," he says.
The economics professor says that many companies are dealing with that kind of business environment by "farming out jobs" to other countries. Last week Telus announced it would begin using call centres in the Philippines and India to maintain part of its customer service operations – a decision the company says is temporary and will only last the duration of the work disruption.
However, Bruce says that’s one way corporations, such as Telus, can try to control costs and improve workforce flexibility. "With contract workers, when the job is done, you don’t have to renew," he says.
The third labour dispute that affected Calgary was at the CBC, where approximately 5,500 employees across the country, including local technicians and journalists, had been locked out since August 15. Earlier this week CBC management and the Canadian Media Guild, which represents the 5,500 employees, reached a tentative agreement.
A central issue in the CBC work stoppage was once again the issue of contracting out employees. To end the dispute, CBC management agreed to cap the number of contract employees that make up its workforce.
In a statement, the Canadian Media Guild said, "We are very pleased to report that the Canadian Media Guild and CBC management have reached an agreement in principle that will form the basis for a new, fair collective agreement." |
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