Edmonton, AB – The Alberta government has returned, again, to the failed approach of private-public partnership (P3) for the building and maintenance of schools in Alberta. The Government of Alberta announced in mid-July that seven elementary and junior high schools in Edmonton, Calgary, and Chestermere would be built using the controversial model.

Typically, a P3 model means the government contracts out the design, building, financing and maintenance of the building. While the government usually announces such P3s as a way to pay less for the construction, they often end up paying more in the long run because the deal means the government agrees to a form of rent over several decades.

P3s have led to accountability problems with the maintenance and upkeep of buildings. In some examples, schools did not have the ability to adjust thermostats and students and staff were sweating or shivering while the private company did not adjust the temperature.  The model is chosen by governments who wish to keep deferred maintenance debt “off the books” and pushed to future budgets. But since governments pay far less for financing than private companies, it is rarely an overall cost savings to use a P3 model.

We have asked before, and must ask again, how many times can Alberta conservatives make the same mistake? The government has twice abandoned this model in the past, and many other provinces have found that P3s do not add up.

CUPE Alberta President Raj Uppal raised the alarm bells. “Given the length of these contracts — often 30 years or more — and the government’s regular flip-flopping on the use of P3s, it seems a poor choice to build much-needed schools this way. Public institutions should be the owners of public assets like schools, hospitals, and the like. We should not be renting back our own public buildings.”

Calgary, AB – CUPE 8125, representing 4,400 WestJet flight attendants, announced the results of their members’ vote on strike action after months at the bargaining table. With a strong turnout of 97.3% of the members, over 99.4% voted to give their bargaining team strike authorization.

Following a 21-day cooling-off period, cabin crew could go on strike as early as August 2, 2026.

CUPE 8125 emphasized that, from the beginning, its goal has been to achieve a negotiated agreement and minimize any impact on travellers. Due to stalled negotiations with WestJet, this strike vote became necessary to move the process forward at the bargaining table.

Alia Hussain, CUPE 8125 President, called on WestJet to return to bargaining with a new focus. “The members of CUPE 8125 are united and determined. They voted to strike because they stand behind the bargaining priorities that they have identified, especially pay for all hours of work performed. WestJet should do the right thing and prevent travel disruptions for their passengers.”

WESTJET CABIN CREW TO HOLD DAY OF ACTION – CALGARY

CALGARY, AB – CUPE 8125, representing approximately 4,400 WestJet flight attendants, will hold a Day of Action while members vote on a possible strike that could start as early as August 2, 2026.  Alia Hussain, President of CUPE 8125, will be available to speak to the media.

DAY OF ACTION DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Time: 11:30 am MST
Location: Near WESTJET CAMPUS, 22 Aerial Place NE, Calgary, AB

Members of the media are asked to park on the street in the area of 78th Ave and 22 St NE.

CALGARY, AB – WestJet Mainline flight attendants, represented by CUPE 8125, officially opened a strike vote today that will continue until July 15, 2026. The union is seeking a strong mandate from members to support its position at the bargaining table as negotiations continue under federal conciliation until July 11.

“Our goal remains the same as it has been from the beginning: to reach a fair, negotiated, collective agreement,” said Alia Hussain, President of CUPE 8125. “A strong strike mandate demonstrates that our members are united behind their bargaining committee and committed to achieving meaningful improvements.”

The union continues to negotiate key issues, including wages, compensation, scheduling, work-life balance, and other workplace improvements identified by members throughout the bargaining process.

A strike vote does not mean a strike will occur. It provides members with the opportunity to authorize strike action should it become necessary at a later stage of the bargaining process, while strengthening the bargaining committee’s position in negotiations.

“We are committed to reaching a negotiated settlement,” Hussain added. “We believe the best outcome is one achieved at the bargaining table, and we remain focused on securing an agreement that recognizes the value of the work WestJet flight attendants perform every day.”

The results of the strike vote will be released by CUPE 8125 following the close of voting on July 15. The earliest date a legal strike or employer lockout could occur is August 2, 2026.

June 30, 2026

Edmonton, AB – In a letter sent today to Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides, CUPE Alberta is calling for stable and predictable budgets that will allow schools and educators to fully and consistently support Alberta students. 

The Minister’s recent announcement of funding for additional complexity teams comes with a catch: there is no guarantee that the funding will continue beyond the next school year. 

“Without stable and predictable budgets, schools will never be able to attract and retain the high-quality staff needed to make these teams a success,” said Raj Uppal, CUPE Alberta President. 

“This sets up kids to fail. Without putting reliable and meaningful supports in place, inclusion isn’t possible and instead creates division and tension within learning environments,” she added.

Many school boards are only offering these complexity team roles as temporary positions due to the unclear nature of the funding commitment. This means that the highly qualified and experienced educational assistants that should be part of these teams are effectively being excluded from applying to these positions, as it would compromise their seniority and job security. Long-time employees shouldn’t be forced to take the gamble of a temporary position with unclear funding to support Alberta’s most vulnerable students.

“Our kids are still some of the lowest-funded in Canada,” said Uppal. “Alberta’s students and staff deserve better than throwing money at a bandaid solution and pitting children against one another to compete for resources.”

CUPE Alberta calls on the UCP government to provide robust, predictable, and sustainable long-term funding to public education.

EDMONTON – It may be fun to stay at the YMCA – but working there is another story.

The YMCA of Northern Alberta has removed three long-term employees who just happened to be leading an effort to get other employees to join the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

The three employees have eight, ten, and twenty-two years of experience working for the employer. Two of them were well qualified for a new position posted one month after the layoff notices were delivered.

CUPE has filed an Unfair Labour Practices Complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board, calling for the employees to be given their jobs back and for a declaration that the YMCA is engaging in illegal behaviour.

“The YMCA is union busting,” said Raj Uppal, CUPE Alberta President. “When an employer goes after the union leadership – and only the leadership – it’s to stop the union from succeeding.”

“It’s illegal, and it’s disgraceful.”

CUPE and the YMCA have been requested to provide available dates for pre-hearing meetings between July and December 2026.

Calgary, AB – As conciliation between WestJet and CUPE 8125, the union representing WestJet flight attendants, approaches its conclusion, the local is calling on the federal government to respect the collective bargaining process and refrain from unnecessary intervention under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code.

Section 107 was intended to address exceptional circumstances under the Canada Labour Code. However, its increasing use in federally regulated labour disputes has raised serious concerns throughout the labour movement about government interference in the collective bargaining process.

Those concerns intensified last summer when the federal government used Section 107 during the Air Canada flight attendants’ labour dispute, preventing workers from exercising their full bargaining rights and referring the matter to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Many unions viewed that intervention as a troubling precedent that risks undermining confidence in free and fair collective bargaining.

“Collective bargaining and the right to strike are protected rights in Canada,” said Alia Hussain, President of CUPE 8125. “When governments intervene before parties have had the opportunity to fully exercise those rights, it risks altering the balance that is essential to meaningful negotiations.”

CUPE 8125 believes this issue extends far beyond WestJet. The growing willingness of governments to intervene in federally regulated disputes affects not only workers bargaining today, but every worker and union that will bargain in the future. The integrity of the collective bargaining process depends on both employers and governments respecting the rights that workers have fought for and that Canadian courts have repeatedly affirmed.

While the union remains committed to reaching a negotiated settlement, significant issues remain unresolved as conciliation approaches its conclusion. If an agreement is not reached and the statutory process under the Canada Labour Code is exhausted, WestJet flight attendants could be in a legal strike position in the first few days of August.

CUPE 8125 is calling on both WestJet and the federal government to commit to allowing the collective bargaining process to proceed as intended and to provide every opportunity for the parties to reach a negotiated agreement at the bargaining table.

Danielle Smith’s expensive, American-style health care scheme coming to Alberta this fall 

Edmonton, AB – This week’s announcement that the UCP government is pushing forward with a two-tier private healthcare model spells more bad news for Albertans needing care and for our entire public healthcare system.

Despite a legal opinion substantiating that Bill 11 breaches the Canada Health Act, this government is determined to push forward with their privatization agenda to enrich their friends and healthcare insurance companies at the expense of Albertans. 

“The announced regulations provide totally inadequate safeguards to ensure that the public system will not be starved by medical practitioners opting to work in a private for-profit capacity,” said Raj Uppal, CUPE Alberta President. “Minister Adriana LaGrange has already confirmed there is no set minimum number of hours that physicians will have to work in the public system while also taking part in for-profit practice. Doctors will also have the ability to tell patients what their potential wait time is in the public system or, that they can skip the wait time by paying out of pocket for a private surgery. That’s just not right.”

Alberta is already failing on its wait time metrics in a significant number of medically necessary and life-saving surgeries. This reckless decision will mean those people are left waiting even longer while private surgeries are being performed in our public hospitals.

“There is no evidence this decision will increase capacity or shorten wait times,” Uppal continued, “this simply allows rich Albertans to jump the queue while the rest of us are left struggling without the care we need. In fact, the use of public hospitals for these private surgeries will undeniably reduce the capacity for the public system and put our public dollars towards private profits.”

“We call on Danielle Smith and the UCP government to immediately reverse this decision, repeal Bill 11, and support the will of Albertans.”

“They must fully fund the staff and resources needed to reopen our currently closed operating rooms, support the incredible health care professionals who are ready to do the work, and reduce wait times by using the capacity we already have. Albertans deserve timely care delivered in a strong, fully-funded public health care system.”

The CUPE Alberta Library Employees’ Committee is devastated to see that Bill 28 has passed.

Bill 28 requires the segregation of public library material with content that is deemed “visually explicit”. It also mandates parental permission for youth under 16 to borrow them. Government-appointed inspectors will have the authority to investigate libraries, which raises concerns about political overreach and enforcement.

This bill will affect all library users. It will create barriers to collections and can cause a sense of guilt or shame if users want access to the materials. Age verification will add another element of restriction. It also means that it will take longer to access your library materials. This takes away the ability to quickly browse the shelves and explore collections. Restrictions like this are a direct violation of our intellectual freedom. The government shouldn’t be the ones telling us what we can read, watch, or listen to.

The legislation comes with no funding. It is expected that libraries will need to undertake costly renovations to comply. This could mean creating areas inaccessible to users, storing “visually explicit” books behind counters, splitting collections, and changing the catalogue. Accessing these materials might need specific staff to verify ages. These changes would mean adding more workload to already overworked staff.

The Libraries Act only allows inspection of board records. Bill 28 expands this to the collections, services, and operations of our public libraries. Public libraries are already governed by elected Boards and staffed with capable and qualified library workers. There are already policies and procedures in place at Alberta libraries which address book bans and challenges, and access to information. We disagree that the Minister should be able to appoint inspectors to enter our public libraries, inspect, and restrict what the public can access, use, or borrow.

If you believe the government has overreached and should not restrict free access to information, please send a letter to your MLA.  

“Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.” – Lady Bird Johnson