Broad Resistance to Anti-Social Offensive in Alberta
Public Sector Workers in Action to Defend their Rights and Dignity!
Rally in Fort McMurray September 21, 2024, protesting the
Alberta government's violation of education workers right
to
strike.
Unions representing workers in almost every public service Albertans rely on, including those directly employed by the government and those working for Alberta Health Services, K-12 education, colleges and universities, long term and seniors care, and other public services are now or will soon be involved in contract negotiations.
In all, collective agreements covering 248,000 workers expire this year, covering 10 per cent of the entire labour force in Alberta. This includes approximately 92,000 nurses, technical and professional and support staff who were directly employed by Alberta Health Care which is now subject to a costly and chaotic restructuring, 51,000 education workers, 22,000 provincial government workers, and tens of thousands of workers in long term care, assisted living, home care and seniors' homes.
The vast majority of these workers have received wage "increases" totaling 4.25 per cent over the past four years while during the same period the cost of living has increased 16 per cent. Many public sector workers have not had a wage increase in eight or even ten years, and have lost 20 per cent or more of their real wages. Many workers report that they have to rely on food banks, that their families lack basic necessities, and that they are having increasing difficulty making two ends meet.
The huge drop in real wages has created an enormous problem of recruitment and retention, creating staffing shortages which further fuels burnout from unsustainable workloads and shows a profound lack of respect for the important work they do. Public services are in crisis while the government continues to pursue restructuring based on paying the rich, and the workers providing services essential to the functioning of society are made disposable and considered a cost to be eliminated.
While the unions representing the workers are at the table with many different employers, the provincial government controls all of what passes for "negotiations" and dictates everything. The Public Sector Employers Act, which became law in 2019, allows the Minister of Finance to control all negotiations using secret mandates which employers are told they must adhere to. Employers cannot even inform the bargaining committees of what is in the mandates and what dictates the government has imposed.
Despite this, the government publicly announced an insulting and ridiculous "offer" for all sectors of a four-year contract with a two per cent raise in 2024, a two per cent raise in 2025, and 1.75 per cent raises in 2026 and 2027. This cannot be called negotiations because the aim is not to work out, through discussion, mutually acceptable solutions to problems. On September 10, one day before Fort McMurray education workers were to begin a strike, the government made their strike illegal by imposing a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB), violating their right to withdraw their labour power. The agenda of wage cuts, intolerable working conditions and insecurity does grave harm to the workers who provide public services and amounts to the wrecking of public services. The workers are having none of it, and every day more actions are taking place where the workers express themselves and inform their fellow workers and the public of their just demands and their significance.
Premier Danielle Smith's response to temporary closures of emergency departments in rural areas for lack of staff was met with outrage across the province. She threatened to use "fear and competition" and to hand over facilities to the Catholic organization Covenant Health which operates some health care facilities in the province and other unnamed "operators." How an emergency department can function without doctors or nurses she did not say. That the premier is not fit to govern is clear enough. Through their actions public sector workers are putting forward an agenda which upholds their rights and provides solutions to the crisis which is threatening the well-being of every member of society.
The battle for public opinion is on! Join in the rallies, pickets, discussions and other actions, speak to your co-workers, your family and friends. Everyone has a part to play because this is everyone's fight -- let each stand in their place!
This article was published in
Volume 54 Numbers 8-9 - September 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54088.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca