HRES2302 Individual Assignment: Alberta Labor Union Research Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE). It begins with a brief history of the union, tracing its origins and the reasons for its establishment, along with the sectors and employees it represents. The report then explores significant events in the union's history, such as negotiations and legal actions, highlighting key milestones and their impact. Furthermore, it examines the current issues and challenges faced by the AUPE, including pressures from legislation, financial constraints, and unionization trends. The report incorporates personal observations on the value of union membership, emphasizing benefits like wage increases, improved safety, and employee protection. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, underscoring the importance of unions in safeguarding employee interests and promoting workplace well-being. The report references several sources, including AUPE documents and academic articles, to support its analysis.

Running head: LABOR UNIONS
LABOR UNIONS
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LABOR UNIONS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Significant events in the life of a union.....................................................................................2
Current issues being faced by the union....................................................................................3
Personal observation..................................................................................................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................4

2LABOR UNIONS
Introduction
A union refers to group of employees who wish to deal with employers on various
issues such as benefits available to employees, wages, work conditions and similar other
factors. Moreover it is necessary to have an effective bargaining relationship between the
employees and the employers as it leads to benefit of both the parties. The union selected for
the purpose of this study is the Alberta Union of provincial employees (Ferguson, 1981). The
union was established in the year 1919 as an association of civil service (Aupe.org, 2020).
Moreover the union was formed under Alberta societies act. Moreover the union provides its
employees the benefits of job protection, health benefits in addition to more money, vacation
benefits and its access to educational courses meetings and conferences.
Significant events in the life of a union
One of the most significant events in the life of Alberta union of provincial
employees, the union forced the government into paying a hike to the employees for about
7.85 % (Aupe.org, 2020). This is so because since 2015, Alberta has been facing job cuts and
reduced pay structures. Therefore in order to overcome the same issues, the Union had
engaged in the same activity. However this activity was considered to be far from reality
because the government was Alberta had been successful in keeping the jobs of the
employees somehow and it was very difficult to even raise the pay. And therefore it was felt
as if the employees had lost complete touch with the reality. Another major event of Alberta
Union of provincial employees includes- Letters for collective bargaining being sent to the
union amid the situation of job cuts (McKENNA, 1989). In such a situation the Alberta
Union of provincial employees, stimulated about 5900 government job cut (Aupe.org, 2020).
The third important event in the life of Alberta Union of provincial employees includes- the

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act of the union to take government to the court carrying out an injunction against bill 9
(Aupe.org, 2020).
Current issues being faced by the union
One of the major challenges being faced by the Alberta Union of provincial
employees is the increased pressure created on them in the recent years. Moreover the
pressure on these unions is continuously intensifying due to threats of right to work
legislation, the regressive labour laws are continuously deepening, the pension of the public
sector are undergoing reductions, there is a continuous drain in the finances of the unions of
Alberta. Moreover, aggressive bargaining tactics are being used by the government of that
particular province. The recent trends in the membership of the unions and organizing the
same show the precarious position of the union in Alberta. Moreover the lowest unionization
among all the Canadian provinces is the still in Alberta. This is so because the workers have
to face a lot of problems related to unionization in Alberta. The unionization applications are
continuously declining and the members of the unions usually belong to a very small
percentage of workforce of the private sector. Therefore unionization is the public sector is
prohibited in Alberta (Smith, 2015). Similarly there are various other challenges that are
being faced by the union in Alberta.
Personal observation
I would become a member of the trade union because there is a necessity of trade
unions in Alberta due to different reasons. Some of these reasons includes- wage issue,
income inequality and also workers safety. The economic performance of Alberta has been
very low and as a result the wage growth in Alberta is also very low. The wages of the
employees of the union is about 4.75 dollars higher than the employees who are not unionised

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(Lammam et al., 2015). Moreover in the construction industry also the members of the trade
unions enjoy a benefit of about 3.92 dollars higher than other employees (Lammam et al.,
2015). Further there are various safety issues related to the Alberta workplace, as the number
of fatalities is about 145 and there in numerous injuries at workplace (Rempel, 2019).
Moreover it has also been seen that organizations in Alberta fail to comply with the
regulations of health and safety and in such a situation, the trade unions play an important
role for protecting the safety of the workers through education of the workers, empowerment
of the workers and also through lobbying of government. Therefore it is beneficial to be a
trade union member.
Conclusion
Therefore from the above discussion, it can be understood that in order to protect the
interest of the employees it becomes necessary to form unions. These unions as has been
understood from the paper provide a number of benefits to its employees. Moreover it is also
evident from the paper that there are different significant events in the life of every chosen
trade union. Moreover there are a number of issues that are being faced by these trade unions
such as lack of workplace safety and the in appropriate wages delivered from the part of the
companies. Having said that, the success of the organizations operating in Alberta in ensuring
optimal workforce management is seen to be dependent on their ability in meeting the
educational and safety need of the employees in a professional manner.

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References
Aupe.org (2020). Home | AUPE. Retrieved 28 January 2020, from https://www.aupe.org/
Ferguson, M. (1981). The Employee/Employer Relationship. Resource News, 6, 26.
Lammam, C., Palacios, M., Ren, F., & Clemens, J. (2015). Comparing Government and
Private Sector Compensation in Alberta. Fraser Institute.
McKENNA, I. B. (1989). Pay Equity and Arbitral Restrictions under the Public Service
Employee Relations Act. Alta. L. Rev., 28, 690.
Rempel, J. (2019). Alberta. Canadian Parliamentary Review, 42(3), 58.
Smith, G. (2015). Please find enclosed copies of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees'
submission.