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For the past decade, I’ve had the honour of being the elected leader of the province’s largest worker advocacy organization, the Alberta Federation of Labour. I’ve fought to defend the rights and interests of unionized workers in every sector: from health-care workers and municipal employees in the public sector, to energy and construction workers in the private.

I may be the face of “Big Labour” in Alberta today, but 35 years ago, I was a kid on our small family farm between Westlock and Athabasca.

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That’s why the debate over the Notley government’s new bill promising full workplace rights for paid agriculture employees is so personal for me.

I know and cherish the farm way of life. But as a union leader and labour advocate, I know how important it is for workers to have protection under laws that defend their safety and guarantee their basic workplace rights.

The big problem Rachel Notley’s government is trying to address with Bill 6 is that paid employees in Alberta’s agricultural sector are currently exempt from protection under all the province’s employment laws: including the Occupational Health and Safety Code, the Workers’ Compensation Act, the Employment Standards Code and the Labour Code.