Labour board sends Alberta union complaint to mediator

EDMONTON – An unfair labour practice complaint stemming from comments allegedly made to jail guards will be sent to a mediator, the Alberta Labour Relations Board said Thursday night.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees alleges that deputy solicitor general Tim Grant “taunted” union members at the Edmonton Remand Centre on Wednesday.

“Our members were taunted by the deputy solicitor general in the morning muster,” AUPE president Guy Smith said in a news release Thursday. “When he should have been dealing with health and safety concerns, he was telling members there was no blanket amnesty for the correctional peace officers, contrary to the agreement I reached with the government to end the strike.”

A labour board hearing into what the AUPE terms Grant’s “inflammatory actions” was delayed for more than four hours Thursday night while lawyers from both sides talked behind closed doors.

But when no agreement was reached, labour board chair Mark Asbell announced a mediator would be appointed to look into the complaint. If the mediator fails to find a resolution, a full board hearing could be rescheduled.

“We think that’s a positive development,” said AUPE lawyer Simon Renouf. “The parties have to keep working with each other. The AUPE’s not going anywhere, the government of Alberta’s not going anywhere. They’re still going to be dealing across the table from each other in 20 years time.”

The AUPE argues that statements made by Grant constitute a breach of the Public Service Employee Relations Act. The union wants Grant to make a public retraction of statements he made Wednesday morning.

Earlier Thursday, Grant issued a statement in which he said he met with the first shift returning to work at the remand centre as they came on duty at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday. He also met with the second shift in the afternoon, he said.

“We had discussed a number of issues of concern to the staff and made two decisions regarding issues that were of immediate concern to the guards,” Grant said.

He said the province has no intention to seek retribution against those who took part in the illegal strike.

But he also raised concerns about reports of an incident in which striking remand centre guards “may have put inmates, their fellow guards and management in danger” as they left their posts.

“This incident will be investigated and dealt with appropriately as indicated in the letter the union received from the province,” Grant said.

Grant gave no additional details in his statement. Justice and Solicitor General spokesman Dan Laville also said the province would not release additional details Thursday.

The comments come after the end of a four-day illegal strike that saw AUPE members walk off the job across the province.

Premier Alison Redford on Thursday backed Grant’s comments and reiterated the province won’t take retribution against workers who took part in the strike.

“There is rhetoric, and as I said yesterday, I think it’s important that this not take on a political tone,” Redford told reporters at a news conference in Sherwood Park. “From our perspective, the illegal action ended (Wednesday). We certainly did say to the union that we were going to make sure there were no acts of retribution.

“I think (Grant) was very clear today with respect to the fact that if there were acts that were committed that put peoples’ safety at risk, that those needed to be dealt with at a management level.”

In a separate letter to the union’s Smith, Public Service Commissioner Dwight Dibben said management will give due consideration to any apology offered by Todd Ross, a remand centre guard and AUPE activist whose hotly worded email to management was sent on Friday just before the strike started. Ross and another guard were then suspended.