EDMONTON – Workers on an illegal strike remained outside the Edmonton Remand Centre Tuesday afternoon, which meant a court-imposed fine against the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees grew substantially.
“We’re waiting for the results of discussions between our president, Guy Smith, and (deputy premier) Mr. (Thomas) Lukaszuk,” Erez Raz, an AUPE vice-president and corrections officer, said of the strike now in its fifth day.
“No news is good news,” Raz told Global News just before 1 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’re here till the bitter end, and then the clean-up begins.”
Wearing hoods, toques and mitts to protect them against icy winds, between 30 and 50 workers were gathered at of five entrances to the remand centre lot.
Failure to meet the court’s noon deadline triggered an escalation in the union’s fine from $100,000 to $350,000.
The union has the money to pay, say both Smith and Raz.
“The minute our people went out, we knew we were going to face some consequences,” said Raz, who would not reveal just how much AUPE has in its fund. “Whatever the fine is, like we’ve said before, we’re supporting our members 100 per cent. That is why we pay union dues to begin with and that’s what it’s used for. The main issue at stake here is the health and safety of people.”
“The group of workers involved in this particular dispute are correction officers, sheriffs, and other officers of the law,” said Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan Monday. “This is not a group of workers that takes job action lightly. This is not a group of workers that would do something that’s against the law lightly, and they only do it because they feel they’ve been left with no other alternative.”
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Late Monday night, two decisions were made directly related to the strike, which started at the Edmonton Remand Centre Friday, and has since spread to other correctional facilities across the province, including Fort Saskatchewan, Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer and Peace River.
Provincial social workers and some court clerks joined Alberta sheriffs and parole officers Monday in support of striking correctional workers, leaving the courts largely in the hands of managers and police.
At 10:30 p.m. Monday, Court of Queen’s Bench Associate Chief Justice JD Rooke ruled the union representing striking remand workers are in contempt of court. Meantime, Labour Relations Board (LRB) orders all public service employees back to work.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) was fined $100,000 for contempt. That fine increased to $250,000 at noon Tuesday. It will rise to $500,000 if the strike doesn’t end by Wednesday.
Earlier Monday, the government filed a contempt of court application against strikers who ignored the Labour Relations Board’s back-to-work order issued Saturday.
In response to the court ruling, the AUPE said its officials will carefully review the decision.
“We need to evaluate it very carefully and consider our legal options,” said AUPE President Guy Smith.
In addition, Monday night’s Alberta Labour Relations Board hearing directed all public service employees back to work.
The LRB’s directive reads:
“Employees in the PSERA unit are to cease their illegal strike and desist from engaging any further strike activity.”
“All employees engaged in illegal strike activity are directed to return to work immediately.” (Read the full directive below)
The directive comes after the provincial government filed a cease-and-desist order with the LRB for all striking union members.
“There’s a new cease-and-desist application that was filed at noon today,” said Aaron Padnivelan, labour relations officer with the LRB Monday afternoon. “This is specifically in response to the walkout of those employees at the courthouses across the province.”
Padnivelan said the new order was expanded to include all employees of the government who are members of or represented by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), potentially affecting nearly 80,000 workers across the province.
With files from the Edmonton Journal
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