Alberta PC Leadership - Labour Relations Response #1

OK, I've received a quick response from the first candidate, Gary McPherson. While Gary is considered by many pundits as a "token" candidate and a one-issue person, his response, and the fact that it didn't takes weeks for him to articulate, makes me think differently. He is clearly someone who looks at issues and takes positions on issues as presented to him.

So on the questions:
1) Should workers have the right to work for an employer without joining a union?

Short answer was "yes" (full answer is below)

2) For closed shops how should dues be calculated

Here he was somewhat equivocal, esp. considering he seems oposed to closed shops (understandable). He was clear that dues should only be used for bargaining purposes and not other political activities of the union.

Full e-mail thread (excepting the original post):
Jeff,

I thought that's what you might be getting at -- thank you for the clarification.

No, I don't think that they should have to pay the same dues that union members pay. There may be some validity to pay partial dues based on benefits that may accrue to the nonunion member as per the US example, and your rationale as to the abuse of the nonmember's contribution is well articulated. Thank you!

However, if the answer has to be yes or no -- I opt for no.

Gary
----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff Gebhart (Blackberry)
- Hide quoted text -
To: Gary McPherson
Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 5:59 PM
Subject: Re: Policy Question: Labour Relations


Thank you very much for your quick response.

Specifically, what I am looking for is whether people who work in union environments, who do not, for whatever reason, choose to join the union, should have to pay union dues. This is not a question about current law, but on what the law/regulation/policy should be.

To that question, there is really only a yes/no option.

If it's yes, then it gets more complex. In the US for example, in many states, the non-member can only be compelled to pay dues for those activities directly related to their bargaining position. The union cannot collect dues from such non-members for certification drives at other companies, or political activities (ie. donating to the NDP, or purchasing 10,000 memberships for union members...). In other states, no dues may be collected at all. In Alberta, the current situation requires the non-member to pay the same dues as the member, including funds for political activities.

Does that make things clearer?

Jeff


On 10/7/06, Gary McPherson wrote:
Jeff,

I believe that a person should have a right to join an employer without having to join the union if they are not in agreement.

In terms of the specifics that you refer to with respect to membership dues, I would need more information before I could comment on this in any intelligent way. Information such as the legislation that created the union, the Company, etc.

Gary McPherson C. M., LLD