Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) members gathered outside the Sturgeon Community Hospital Wednesday (July 17) to send a message that they’ve reached a breaking point with slow wage growth in the face of high inflation.
Vice-president Bobby-Joe Borodey said many union workers, which total 100,000 employees in healthcare, government, education and more, can’t afford to pay their bills and in some cases are taking multiple jobs to get by.
Roughly 82,000 members will be bargaining with their employers in 2024.
“[Their] proposals ask for a number of increases, specifically around wages, job security, benefits, and then workload,” Borodey said. “It'll come as no surprise that wages is the number-one priority for members.”
More than 1,600 AUPE members work in St. Albert, according to the union. They work as licensed practical nurses, hospital cleaning staff, hospital clerks, sheriffs and more. Many union workers who live in St. Albert are employed with the Edmonton Remand Centre as correctional officers, Borodey said.
In April, the Alberta government offered a 7.5 per cent wage increase over four years. That’s far below the 25 to 36 per cent increase over three years that AUPE members are hoping for.
“We know that an impasse is imminent, and so we are essentially building for potential direct action,” Borodey said. “That's why we are hosting these rallies across the province.”
Borodey said the union is anticipating “big action” in the fall and early winter months when bargaining starts for many union employees.
Scott Peacock is a St. Albert resident and an electronics technician with Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), where he repairs slot machine components.
Waving a red banner at honking cars outside the Sturgeon Hospital, he said that wages for himself and his colleagues have increased by only nine per cent in the past 13 years, far below the rate of inflation which has been roughly 30 per cent in that time.
“We're looking at a big loss,” he said. “I'm coping by cutting back a lot of the services that I currently have. Internet, I'm looking for the best prices I can get. Cell phones, same thing … I'm not in that bad a financial position because I did save money over time. But everything's sitting flatline right now. Bills are coming in and the payments going out are pretty much equal.”
The various labour forces represented by the union are in different bargaining units, but all units are in similar stages of the negotiation process said AUPE president Guy Smith, who attended the rally.
If members go on strike, it would “certainly have an impact” in St. Albert, Smith said.
“But we're also restricted by essential services legislation. There’s a certain level of services that have been provided during a strike or lockout,” he said.
“Having been all over the province, I'm seeing a mood, and I think it's being reflected in other parts of the country as well, where public sector workers who basically held everything together during COVID … and have taken a lot of pressure to support Albertans, and did a fabulous job, and had very small or no raises at all over the past few years are starting to stand up,” Smith said.
In April, finance minister Nate Horner released a statement that called the union’s position “extreme."
“The Alberta government will not increase taxes or cut programs, services or workers to give unprecedented salary increases that will result in pay well above market rates,” he said.
Albertans and “all Canadians” have not seen a wage increase of the size that the AUPE is asking for, Horner said.
“Working towards a fair and reasonable settlement in a timely manner will be difficult.”
Many of the labour forces represented by the AUPE will begin bargaining with their employers in September.
