MONTREAL — On Oct. 19 a nonbinding referendum in Canada’s Alberta province posed 10 questions on the ballot. The one that received far and away the most attention in the big-business media asked if voters wanted a future binding referendum on Alberta seeking independence. But this wasn’t the most important one for working people. As it happened, that question was voted down overwhelmingly, getting only 24% of the vote.
The most important contest was five interconnected measures that together constituted a frontal attack on the rights of immigrant workers, designed to deepen divisions among working people, strengthen the hand of the bosses and weaken the labor movement.
The Alberta Federation of Labour and its affiliated unions campaigned for the defeat of these assaults on immigrant workers and to defend the unity of working people against the capitalist governments of both United Conservative Party Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Liberal Party Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The lead-up to these reactionary measures has been a series of sharp class battles in Alberta and across Canada. The Liberals in Ottawa are pushing Bill C-39, which would give the government the right to unilaterally halt strike actions it deems dangerous to the profits and power of the capitalist rulers.
The Alberta labor movement mobilized in 2025 to support 51,000 striking teachers, who ended their militant strike only after the Conservative Party government adopted back-to-work strikebreaking legislation.
Divisive questions
The anti-immigrant measures call on the Alberta government to:
Cut back so-called economic immigration “to more sustainable levels … giving Albertans first priority on new employment opportunities.”
Mandate “only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and individuals with an Alberta-approved immigration status will be eligible for provincially funded programs such as health care, education and other social services.”
Require “all individuals with a non-permanent legal immigration status to reside in Alberta for at least 12 months before qualifying for any provincially funded social support programs.”
Charge “a reasonable fee or premium to individuals with a non-permanent immigration status living in Alberta for their and their family’s use of the health care and education systems.”
Despite millions of dollars spent by the Alberta government in anti-immigrant propaganda ensconced in vague and misleading language, these nonbinding proposals garnered a bare majority of some 54%.
While Smith claimed this gives her a “clear mandate” to pursue attacks against immigrant workers with or without papers, the labor movement made clear that would take a fight.
The unions speak out
“The UCP is clearly trying to target working-class Albertans by convincing them to blame immigrants for the hardships they’re facing in their lives,” Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan said in an Oct. 21 statement two days after the vote.
“We will not allow wedges to be driven between neighbors, co-workers and families,” said Thomas Hesse, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401, the next day. “Turning a cold shoulder to our immigrant population and creating the potential to freeze them out of benefits is very troubling.”
“Our union stands firmly together, and we will fiercely protect the dignity and rights of every single worker who calls this province home.”
“Temporary foreign workers and newcomers are foundational to our communities,” said Faduma Ahmed, a Local 401 union representative. “We must ensure all workers receive the same dignity, respect and fairness regardless of where they came from.”
“In Brooks, we see every single day, what true community looks like, with working people from all over the world working side by side,” said Adriana Salguero, UFCW representative in Brooks. “They deserve the same access to the services that their tax dollars pay for like all workers do in this province.”
Brooks is home to JBS Canada — one of the country’s largest beef processing facilities, where 4,200 to 4,500 cattle are slaughtered every day.
The UFCW statement concludes that if the provincial government takes steps to slash services provided to immigrants, the union is prepared to take strike action to force the employers to “provide these workers with the necessary benefits.”
Local 401’s message of working-class unity and solidarity was also strongly expressed last March when the union sent a message of solidarity to 3,800 UFCW JBS meatpacking workers forced out on strike in Greeley, Colorado. It said: “When workers unite across borders, we are strongest together.”
Union leaders back ‘Team Canada’
In the days leading up to the referendum, Prime Minister Carney campaigned together with Alberta Premier Smith, calling for a vote against the referenda item posing the question of the province’s independence from Ottawa.
Carney used the campaign to promote his nationalist “Team Canada” unity propaganda aimed at convincing working people and our unions to back the Canadian capitalist rulers’ trade war against Washington.
“When we are united, we become even stronger, fairer and freer,” he argued. At the same time as he says this, his government is stepping up attacks on the right to strike by working people, deporting record numbers of immigrants and supporting the ruling rich in their drive to save their crisis-ridden, war-generating profit system.
Nonetheless, top union officials also campaigned for a “strong Canada” in the framework of their dead-end support for the Liberal government’s Canadian nationalist trade war against the U.S. This pits workers and our unions in Canada against those in the U.S. and aligns workers here with the Canadian bosses. This weakens our ability to defend our living and working conditions and democratic freedoms.