Alberta Politics Thread v2

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by GaiJin

You've never worked with people that have 12 grandfathers and one seems to die every time a new shift supervisor is hired? Or have a family situation when they are out of vacation days but that wicked concert in Vegas is a must see?

If an employer has doubts about the death they could easily ask for the published obituary.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[PepsiFree]

Better cancel unpaid leave for a grieving mother because I knew a guy who took 3 days off unpaid to go to Vegas! That’ll show the NDP!

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by GaiJin

You've never worked with people that have 12 grandfathers and one seems to die every time a new shift supervisor is hired? Or have a family situation when they are out of vacation days but that wicked concert in Vegas is a must see?

It’s unpaid leave. Why would it matter how many vacation days they have?


These were labour code changes that didn’t affect any good employer.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

It’s unpaid leave. Why would it matter how many vacation days they have?


These were labour code changes that didn’t affect any good employer.

Holding a spot for a year for a parent who loses a child seems much longer than necessary. This has negative affects with the employer along with the 18 month maternity leave protections. Now while losing a child would be devestating The difference between 6 months, a year and 5 years are likely not that meaningful.

Things like the critical illness leave make much more sense and could even be extended because you have something you need to do as the reason you can’t work.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by GGG

Holding a spot for a year for a parent who loses a child seems much longer than necessary. This has negative affects with the employer along with the 18 month maternity leave protections. Now while losing a child would be devestating The difference between 6 months, a year and 5 years are likely not that meaningful.

Things like the critical illness leave make much more sense and could even be extended because you have something you need to do as the reason you can’t work.

What they do is allow someone the time. Is a year probably longer than necessary? Sure. But simple because the law allows for it doesn’t mean someone is automatically going to take the full amount considering it’s unpaid.

What it does is allows people to take the actual time they need, or at least the time they can afford to take financially, and then come back.

I don’t really see how a year is any harder to cover than a couple months, or how an extra 6 months of maternity is any harder to cover than a year. Maternity especially, most positions get covered by a contract position, and an 18 month contract is significantly more appealing than a 12 month contract.

[Roughneck]

The meaningfulness of the timeline is that a year is what EI covers for it, which is why the provincial protection was given that long. Same with basically all the protection changes: matching up with the EI coverage for each situation.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

In the letter to the MDA it specifically mentions repealing the recent changes to the labour code, OH&S and WCB.

You can read up on the changes that have been implemented here:
https://www.alberta.ca/workplace-leg...n-changes.aspx



I’m not sure what you’re basing this on, Alberta had the weakest labour laws in the country for decades before the NDP updated the code.

Can you give me specifics? I read the link and it doesn’t seem like there are huge issues there. Is this a minimum wage issue or what specifically are we talking about.

And how was Alberta’s labour code particularly weak? What rights do/did other workers have that we didn’t have here? Is this the unionization issue we talked about last year?

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Slava

Can you give me specifics? I read the link and it doesn’t seem like there are huge issues there. Is this a minimum wage issue or what specifically are we talking about.

This would be a good thing to say to your UCP candidate.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Slava

Can you give me specifics?

I shared a link which lists all of the changes, how much more specific are you looking for?

I read the link and it doesn’t seem like there are huge issues there.

Makes you wonder why the UCP are so committed to repealing the changes if they aren’t huge issues, doesn’t it?

Is this a minimum wage issue or what specifically are we talking about.

Kenney has stated he will maintain the current minimum wage however he wants to introduce a system where minors would be paid less. So yes that’s definitely one of the issues. I know many will try to argue that some form of two tiered system is sensible legislation, however if the goal in raising the minimum wage is to reduce poverty then I see little benefit in giving employers incentives to not hire adults who are relying on a job to make ends meet, nor do I see the benefit in paying a teen who may also be relying on that job to make ends meet less than an adult who is doing the same.

And how was Alberta’s labour code particularly weak? What rights do/did other workers have that we didn’t have here?

The provisions for job protected unpaid leaves of absence were not radical ideas the Alberta NDP drummed up out of nowhere, other jurisdictions had similar rights. Other things like severance entitlement in Alberta were, and remain, below what employees are entitled to in other jurisdictions. I’m not going to itemize each change that was made and point to which other jurisdictions had those rights for their employees before workers in Alberta did, you’re free to do that on your own time. Long story short, the majority of changes that were implemented were already legislated in other jurisdictions, Alberta not having these same protections/rights is why our labour laws were considered much weaker than other jurisdictions’.

Is this the unionization issue we talked about last year?

Our previous legislation regarding labour unions also made it more difficult to form a union in Alberts compared to other jurisdictions, a big part of the reason why is that they previously provided very little protection for employees attempting to organize unions. So yes those previous laws also contributed to our overall weaker legislation.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

What they do is allow someone the time. Is a year probably longer than necessary? Sure. But simple because the law allows for it doesn’t mean someone is automatically going to take the full amount considering it’s unpaid.

What it does is allows people to take the actual time they need, or at least the time they can afford to take financially, and then come back.

I don’t really see how a year is any harder to cover than a couple months, or how an extra 6 months of maternity is any harder to cover than a year. Maternity especially, most positions get covered by a contract position, and an 18 month contract is significantly more appealing than a 12 month contract.

Maternity leave positions is more like 3.5 years with a 6 month work term. It also creates negative hiring pressure on women aged 25 to 35 whether or not they would take advantage of this time. Thy at least should make it that the maximum one spouse can take is 1 year.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I shared a link which lists all of the changes, how much more specific are you looking for?



Makes you wonder why the UCP are so committed to repealing the changes if they aren’t huge issues, doesn’t it?



Kenney has stated he will maintain the current minimum wage however he wants to introduce a system where minors would be paid less. So yes that’s definitely one of the issues. I know many will try to argue that some form of two tiered system is sensible legislation, however if the goal in raising the minimum wage is to reduce poverty then I see little benefit in giving employers incentives to not hire adults who are relying on a job to make ends meet, nor do I see the benefit in paying a teen who may also be relying on that job to make ends meet less than an adult who is doing the same.



The provisions for job protected unpaid leaves of absence were not radical ideas the Alberta NDP drummed up out of nowhere, other jurisdictions had similar rights. Other things like severance entitlement in Alberta were, and remain, below what employees are entitled to in other jurisdictions. I’m not going to itemize each change that was made and point to which other jurisdictions had those rights for their employees before workers in Alberta did, you’re free to do that on your own time. Long story short, the majority of changes that were implemented were already legislated in other jurisdictions, Alberta not having these same protections/rights is why our labour laws were considered much weaker than other jurisdictions’.



Our previous legislation regarding labour unions also made it more difficult to form a union in Alberts compared to other jurisdictions, a big part of the reason why is that they previously provided very little protection for employees attempting to organize unions. So yes those previous laws also contributed to our overall weaker legislation.

Yeah I read through the link, and it’s just hard to believe that they plan on eliminating some those things. I guess we’ll see what comes of it, but it seems like fear-mongering on the part of the NDP. It’s going to be a long election cycle.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by Slava

Yeah I read through the link, and it’s just hard to believe that they plan on eliminating some those things. I guess we’ll see what comes of it, but it seems like fear-mongering on the part of the NDP. It’s going to be a long election cycle.

You think its NDP fear mongering that the UCP has been caught red handed promising to repeal the changes to OHS? Am I reading this right?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

You think its NDP fear mongering that the UCP has been caught red handed promising to repeal the changes to OHS? Am I reading this right?

I think they plan to repeal some things and we don’t know which pieces. Of course their opponents are jumping to the leaves for things like critical illness and worker safety, and I don’t want those repealed either. The portions making it easier to form a union could be repealed and not bother me. Having a minimum wage for minors as opposed to adults doesn’t seem too crazy either.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think they plan to repeal some things and we don’t know which pieces. Of course their opponents are jumping to the leaves for things like critical illness and worker safety, and I don’t want those repealed either. The portions making it easier to form a union could be repealed and not bother me. Having a minimum wage for minors as opposed to adults doesn’t seem too crazy either.

The promise was to cancel all changes. Not to revise them, not to edit them, cancel them all.

I know it's not fun to see the party you support get in bed with big business and promise to do some ugly things in exchange for money, but that's the reality here sorry.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

The promise was to cancel all changes. Not to revise them, not to edit them, cancel them all.

I know it's not fun to see the party you support get in bed with big business and promise to do some ugly things in exchange for money, but that's the reality here sorry.

The party I support? Hahaha, that’s great. I hope some of my sparring partners here were sitting down when you dropped that one.

I really don’t know what I’m doing this next election. The NDP has been economically terrible. The UCP is socially terrifying. Those are the two alternatives we have, and I feel like most of us are somewhere in the political wilderness between these two.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Slava

The party I support? Hahaha, that’s great. I hope some of my sparring partners here were sitting down when you dropped that one.

I really don’t know what I’m doing this next election. The NDP has been economically terrible. The UCP is socially terrifying. Those are the two alternatives we have, and I feel like most of us are somewhere in the political wilderness between these two.

So basically that leaves the Alberta Party, although it seems to be common sentiment that middle-ground parties are chock-full of former PC'ers who were filling their pockets at the trough and therefore don't qualify

Perhaps the best thing to do is to look at the party platforms and just make a rational decision about which one fits your profile the best?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

So basically that leaves the Alberta Party, although it seems to be common sentiment that middle-ground parties are chock-full of former PC'ers who were filling their pockets at the trough and therefore don't qualify

Perhaps the best thing to do is to look at the party platforms and just make a rational decision about which one fits your profile the best?

Well yeah, and they also have nothing. Like I have said many times before, they should have just merged with the Liberals and tried to build something, but instead they're just focused on "being right" as opposed to to being effective or electable.

I won't skip voting. I just have no idea who it will be for.

[V]

Haha, now Slava, the biggest Liberal booster on this site, is apparently a UCP fan-boy. I think Resurrection might be getting a little too caught up in the team politics game.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Slava

Yeah I read through the link, and it’s just hard to believe that they plan on eliminating some those things. I guess we’ll see what comes of it, but it seems like fear-mongering on the part of the NDP. It’s going to be a long election cycle.

The letter wasn’t the first time it’s been mentioned.

Kenney said the UCP would also repeal recent NDP changes to labour legislation.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/edmonton...-for-power/amp

If Kenney doesn’t plan on repealing all of the new legislation he should make that clear. We can only judge him based on what he says, at this point he hasn’t stated anything that suggests he’s not repealing all of it. I don’t know what the NDP are saying about this and it wouldn’t change my positions. As far as I’m concerned my original statement about the MDA making contributions to a party who will be repealing the rights of their employees is accurate regardless of whether or not the UCP will be repealing all or only a portion of the new legislation.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

The letter wasn’t the first time it’s been mentioned.



https://www.google.ca/amp/s/edmonton...-for-power/amp

If Kenney doesn’t plan on repealing all of the new legislation he should make that clear. We can only judge him based on what he says, at this point he hasn’t stated anything that suggests he’s not repealing all of it. I don’t know what the NDP are saying about this and it wouldn’t change my positions. As far as I’m concerned my original statement about the MDA making contributions to a party who will be repealing the rights of their employees is accurate regardless of whether or not the UCP will be repealing all or only a portion of the new legislation.

Some of that labour legislation is really poor though. Honestly, employees being paid for holidays or days when their employer isnt even open is ridiculous.

Some of it is fine, long overdue protection for employees.