July 9 2003 - The Alberta government has accepted the main recommendation in the Final
Report: Government MLA Committee Considering a Review of the Labour Relations Code and
will not be conducting a general review of the Labour Relations Code. But the committee
has been asked to investigate "salting" and "merfing" practices in the construction industry.
Salting occurs when union activists seek employment with non-union
employers for the direct purpose of organizing. Merfing, or Market
Enhancement Recovery Funds, involves the creation of a recovery fund by the union to
assist union contractors when bidding against a non-union competitor.
"The majority of the feedback we received on the Code was from the
construction industry," said Richard Marz, chair of the government MLA committee. "We
heard serious concerns about certain labour practices in this industry."
The review committee will be comprised of the
three MLAs who worked on this review and will include Stephen Kushner of Merit
Contractors Association and Mark McCullough of the Alberta Building Trades. A report based on
the committee's findings will be presented to Minister Dunford by October 31, 2003.
"I am pleased with the work done by the MLA committee," said Alberta Human
Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford. "Based on feedback from over 300
stakeholders and interested public members, the committee concluded that the Labour
Relations Code is continuing to balance the needs of employers and employees and is
working well. The Code does not need a major overhaul at this time."
The MLA committee, made up of Olds-Didsbury-Three-Hills MLA Richard Marz, Calgary-Buffalo MLA
Harvey Cenaiko and Edmonton-Calder MLA Brent Rathgeber, heard from employers, employer
associations, trade unions, labour umbrella groups and the interested public.
Minister Dunford agreed with the MLA committee's recommendations that no further review
of general certification and revocation procedures or first agreement legislation is
required. There will be further study internally by the government into the province's
secondary picketing provisions.
Two recommendations in the report were not accepted. "A review of labour relations in
the health care sector at this time is not necessary," said Dunford. " Bill 27 has dealt
with the majority of labour issues that were facing this sector." In addition, Dunford
noted that he is not going to review the organization of agriculture workers considering
the current challenges in the agriculture sector.
Copies of the report are available at
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/hre/labourrelations/index.asp.
Canadian Human Resources
