AFL president Gil McGowan has written a letter to the RCMP praising them for the approach they took to policing the recent Lakeside Packers strike in Brooks.

In a letter to Superintendent Bob Boyd of the RCMP’s Calgary District office, McGowan said that without the neutral, impartial and even-handed approach adopted by the RCMP “a bad situation could easily have gotten worse.”

McGowan thanked the RCMP for recognizing and respecting the fact that the strikers had a legitimate, democratic right to be on the picket line. He also commended the Mounties for actively seeking out “best-practice” models for policing labour disputes from other jurisdictions and incorporating them into their policy for Brooks.

“After looking at what happened in Brooks, I would like to strongly encourage you to adopt the RCMP’s “Brooks policy” as the formal policy for policing all labour disputes in Alberta,” wrote McGowan.

“I would also encourage you to share your experiences with other city and regional police forces in the province. Some of these forces – most notably the Edmonton Police Service – already have thoughtful labour policies in place. But I think everyone could benefit from the lessons that you learned in Brooks.”

The Alberta Federation of Labour is Alberta’s largest union organization, representing 120,000 workers from 29 different unions.

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For more information contact:

Gil McGowan, AFL President at 780.915-4599 (cell) or 780.483-3021 (wk)