Fresh snow and cold temperatures didn’t stop CUPE members from sending a message to Premier Danielle Smith about Alberta’s rising cost of living and stagnating wages. The crowd gathered outside Smith’s Medicine Hat constituency office. Members called on the premier to address the cost-of-living crisis by investing in public services and ending restrictive mandates that are keeping workers’ wage increases well below inflation.
Over 200 attendees heard impassioned speeches from front-line workers about the toll low wages and understaffing are taking on their lives. Several leaders from other unions, including HSAA, AUPE and the Alberta Federation of Labour spoke about the common struggle that all workers in Alberta are facing and the need to take on Danielle Smith and the UCP together. CUPE National President Mark Hancock finished with a fiery speech about the major fights CUPE members have taken on in other provinces in the past few years, “the next stop,” he concluded, “is right here in Alberta.”