EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill sent an open letter to Alberta Minister of Finance and Treasury Board Nate Horner demanding the province stop interfering in the Union’s collective bargaining.
While Alberta government ministers and their spokespeople consistently claim they have no involvement in bargaining with CUPE, there are examples of their direct influence at every single School Division bargaining table.
“The province is absolutely controlling every monetary negotiation at every table. They’re mandating a cap on what School Divisions can offer in wages. This cap of 2-.75% over four years, after ten years of stagnant wages, amounts to a 30% cut to purchasing power over that time for workers who literally keep our schools running. Many of these folks have to stop at the food bank on their way home from work,” Gill explained.
The Government of Alberta passed Legislation in 2019 allowing the President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Finance to mandate “secret” binding bargaining directives on wages and other bargaining proposals. This mandate delivered through the Public Bargaining and Compensation Office (PBCO) that’s controlled by the provincial government has been cited at every bargaining table as the reason for the employer resistance to deviate from their identical wage proposals.
On September 16th, Danielle Smith’s Cabinet Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade resorted to an uncommonly used clause in the Alberta Labour Code to stall education workers in Fort McMurray from taking strike action after their memberships voted democratically by 98% and 99% to strike.
“It’s time for the premier and her cabinet ministers to admit their low wage mandates aren’t acceptable, won’t be tolerated, and need to be rescinded,” said Gill.
Education support workers are rejecting wage rollbacks and insulting monetary offers because they know a provincial government that boasts about billions in budget surpluses can do better. Workers in other public sectors funded by the province that are already in or are going into negotiations are following suit.
“People have just had enough of working all day to not be able to pay their bills,” Gill added.
