Workers' Mass Resistance Against Provincial Government Attacks on the Rights of All
Students rally at Alberta Legislature, November
18, 2019, against cuts to investments
in education.
 Alberta workers
and their allies came out in force during the week
of November 18-23 with rallies and protests being
organized almost every day. On Monday, November
18, about 300 students from the University of
Alberta and about 200 students from MacEwan
University marched to the Legislature and joined
forces to protest the United Conservative Party
(UCP) government's vicious cuts to post-secondary
education. Many students carried signs beginning
with, "I am not silent because." The cuts, which
will seriously affect student learning conditions
and instructor working conditions, include
slashing already inadequate base funding, seven
per cent tuition increases each year, student loan
rate increases, and threats of a
"performance-based" funding model which no doubt
will be based on how well the universities serve
the needs of the monopolies.
On Wednesday, November 20, United Nurses of
Alberta, which represents 30,000 nurses, organized
a protest of about 1,000 nurses at the Legislature
to affirm their collective rights and the right of
all to health care. Two specific issues of focus
were the right to collective bargaining without
threatened government interference and the right
of public workers to control their own pensions,
which will soon be administered by the UCP
government instead of by the workers themselves.
In February 1988, nurses across Alberta heroically
struck for 19 days, defying cease and desist
orders, criminal charges, firings, and threats of
government seizure of their assets to win an
improved collective agreement.
Nurses rally at the Alberta Legislature,
November 20, 2019.
On Thursday, November 21 about 1,000 people
rallied at the University of Calgary to protest
the UCP government's funding cuts and the lifting
of the previous government's tuition fee freeze.
The picket, hosted by the Alberta Union of Public
Employees (AUPE), was held during the noon hour on
the main quad. The rally followed the November 18
announcement that University of Calgary would cut
250 jobs, a move prompted by the province's grants
reduction and the funding cuts for the
university's infrastructure maintenance program.
The budget cuts amount to over $54 million. Guy
Smith, AUPE president, stated: "When you're trying
to rebuild an economy, the best way to do that is
to have an educated and well-skilled workforce. If
you take away the ability of Albertans to become
educated then that's going to hurt the economy
even more."
Rally, November 21, 2019, at the University of
Calgary.
 On Friday, November
22, CUPE Alberta, which represents 36,000 Alberta
workers, organized a rally of about 100
non-teaching staff and their allies in front of
the Edmonton Public School Board building in
downtown Edmonton to protest UCP cuts to K-12
education. After promising to maintain existing
funding, the UCP government's budget for 2019 will
reduce overall funding by about $275 million, with
no additional funding for enrollment growth.
"We're going to see larger class sizes, kids less
supported," Canadian Union of Public Employees
Alberta President Rory Gill said. "There's going
to be devastating impacts to the kids here in
Edmonton."
A salient feature of all four rallies was that at
each one many people stepped forward to speak in
their own name. For example, at the Edmonton
Public School Board rally, people heard from
support workers, parents, students, teacher aides,
teachers, and union leaders. It was pointed out at
all the rallies that the UCP decisions on
education and health care are being arbitrarily
made without any serious consultation with any
workers. This highlighted once again that the real
issue facing Canadians is the need for democratic
renewal so that people can become decision-makers
on all matters that affect their lives and can
secure the future for themselves and the coming
generation. This is a problem for today, not
tomorrow.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 29 - November 30, 2019
Article Link:
Workers' Mass Resistance Against Provincial Government Attacks on the Rights of All
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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