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Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour:

BREAKING: Alberta unions warn Premier Danielle Smith: unprecedented use of the Notwithstanding Clause against workers will result in an unprecedented response from unions in defence of worker rights.

At an emergency meeting held today at 5:00pm (MT), the Common Front, an umbrella group for all Alberta unions, leaders unanimously endorsed the following message to Premier Danielle Smith.

Dear Premier Smith,

On behalf of the more than 350,000 working Albertans who we represent, we urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to rule out the use of the Notwithstanding Clause as part of your government’s approach to the teachers’ strike. Invoking the clause would be unprecedented in the history of Canadian labour relations. It would also escalate the situation from a confrontation between your government and the teachers to a confrontation between you and the entire Canadian labour movement. If governments start using the Notwithstanding Clause as a tool in their dealings with workers and unions, it will make a mockery of the constitutionally protected right to strike. Without a robust and reliable right to strike, worker bargaining power will be eroded, and with it, the wages and living standards of all Canadian workers. If you take this unprecedented approach, we will have no choice but to mobilize an unprecedented response. There are many avenues your government could pursue to negotiate with public sector unions that do not involve invoking the Notwithstanding Clause. We urge you to choose them.

Signed by all the unions of the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Alberta Common Front