CALGARY – Delegates to the Alberta Federation of Labour’s biennial convention will be kept busy all day tomorrow with a number of important guest speakers and special events.

Highlights of the agenda for Friday, April 16 include the following:

• Nycole Turmel, national executive vice president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada will talk about her union’s fight for pay equity in the federal public service. Turmel will address the convention at 10:30 a.m.

• A rally will be held outside the McDougall Building in downtown Calgary between 11:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The purpose of the rally is to draw attention to union concerns with both the provincial and federal governments. Speakers at the rally will include: Turmel, AFL president Audrey Cormack and New Democrat MLA Raj Pannu.
• Professor Elaine Bernard, director of the Trade Union Program at Harvard University, will discuss the challenges and opportunities facing unions in the 21st century. Professor Bernard will address the convention at 2:30 p.m.
• The AFL will release a report on the state of the labour movement in Alberta. The report – entitled ‘Now More Than Ever’ – will describe the current strength of unions in Alberta and identify challenges facing the provincial labour movement in the 21st century. The report will be presented to convention delegates at 3:15 p.m. Cormack will be available to answer questions from the media regarding the report at 3:45 in the Greenfield Room (second floor).
• Pam Barrett, leader of the Alberta New Democrats, will talk about economic and political concerns her party shares with the labour movement. Barrett will speak at 4:15 p.m.
• The AFL’s biennial convention is being held in the Calgary Westin Hotel, located at 320-4th Ave., S.W., Calgary. Unless otherwise specified, all convention speeches and presentations will take place in the hotel’s main ballroom. Reporters are asked to check in at the convention registration desk. No one will be allowed on the convention floor without proper credentials.

For more information call:

Gil McGowan, AFL Communications: (403) 508-5129 (office) or (780) 910-1137 (cell)

Audrey Cormack, AFL President: (780) 499-6530 (cell)