CUPE Alberta Convention 2020 – Postponed

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A message from CUPE Alberta Executive regarding CUPE Alberta Convention March 18-20, 2020 in Fort McMurray, AB:

After reviewing recommendations from public health and government officials, the executive of CUPE Alberta decided late Thursday evening to postpone our annual convention, scheduled to take place next week in Fort McMurray.

We’ve made this decision to slow down the rate of infection among at-risk populations. CUPE members work in schools, in long term care homes and in hospitals. These workers are most at risk, and most needed to fight a pandemic.

Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing our convention. We will monitor the situation and will aim to reschedule our convention once the pandemic has subsided or health authorities recommend gatherings such as ours go ahead.

In Solidarity,

Rory Gill, President CUPE AB

Budget 2020: we pay more, services cut, corporations get big tax breaks

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Even with deep cuts to public services, and with $436 million in new taxes, fees, licenses and premiums, the UCP are making Alberta’s debt and deficit worse.

Not that deficits are the problem Jason Kenney says they are. But deficits are why we are seeing all these cuts and tax increases, right?

No. Last year, Jason Kenney blew up Alberta finances with a $4.7 billion tax cut to corporations. That tax cut failed to create a single job. In fact, Alberta has lost 50,000 jobs under the Kenney plan.

And we are paying a steep price. Here are some of the features of today’s budget:

We all pay more

  • Albertans will pay $436 million more in taxes, premiums, licenses and fees. This is over and above the increases from the October budget. And because of Jason Kenney, electricity bills, car insurance, tuition and school fees have gone up.
  • The Kenney government increased personal income taxes by $600 million over three years.
  • The UCP has eliminated the freeze on education property taxes, so expect to pay more if you own a home.

Fewer jobs

  • The so-called, ‘blueprint for jobs’ is a re-stating of the idea that a $4.7 billion corporate tax cut will create employment. Kenney promised 55,000 new jobs, but Alberta has already lost 50,000. Companies like Husky have taken the tax cut and invested it in other provinces and the USA.
  • The budget cuts 1,436 jobs in the public sector.
  • The UCP will cut 1,400 jobs from the public sector, in addition to job losses stemming from the October budget.

Cuts

  • They are cutting $72 million from seniors drug coverage, including measures to make it harder for seniors to qualify.
  • There is an effective cut to Alberta Health services of $500 million.
  • The Kenney government is cutting $135 million in real dollars from hospitals.
  • There is $120 million cut from schools, in addition to the fact the UCP is not funding enrollment.
  • Five-year-old kids with special needs will no longer get PUF funding, meaning problems in classrooms, and higher costs in the future.
  • $53 million cut to maintenance and renewal of senior facilities and housing.
  • $105 million cut to maintenance and renewal of health facilities.
  • Supports for seniors under the Special Needs Assistance program will be reduced in 2020-21 by $8.2 million.

Education minister lies, again.

Last week, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said all school boards would receive additional in the budget. What actually happened is that districts are now “allowed” to spend an “additional” $100 million from their own fundraising and reserves.

Pensions

  • Public sector pension plans will pay $167 million more in management fees to AIMCO (the organization Kenney is forcing the plans to accept as the fund manager).

Magical budgeting

Even though the deficit is getting larger, the UCP says they can balance the budget by 2023. That’s because they are relying on unrealistic economic projections. The budget projects a 2.5% growth in the Alberta economy in 2020, while five major banks are projecting an average of 1.7%. The UCP project an average oil price of $58/barrel, when the price has been hovering in the $45 range for some time. And Jason Kenney predicts 7.5% increases in revenue in 2021-22 and 2022-23, when private sector forecasts are much lower.

Summary

  • Jason Kenney promised lower taxes, and we are getting higher taxes.
  • Jason Kenney promised more jobs, and we have fewer jobs.
  • Jason Kenney promised a lower debt and deficit, they are higher.
  • Jason Kenney promised no cuts to front line services, we are seeing deep cuts to front line services.
  • The only promise Jason Kenney has kept is his $4.7 billion tax cut to big corporations that are already earning a profit. Everyone else in Alberta will suffer to pay for that gift to Kenney’s pals.

Yvonne Fast passes away

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We have just learned about the passing of Yvonne Fast.

Yvonne spent her entire career in CUPE. She served as the President of the now defunct local at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, then as President of CUPE Alberta, worked as a National Representative in Red Deer and Edmonton, health care coordinator, and Regional Director from 2014-2018.

It’s no exaggeration to say she dedicated her life to CUPE.

Donations can be made in her name to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Rest in peace Yvonne.

CUPE Local 38 President Responds to Farkas’ Vampire Comments

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Calgary, AB

CUPE Local 38 President D’Arcy Lanovaz shares Mayor Nenshi’s concern about the tone of the debate regarding retirement allowances.

“The notion that this level of spending was directed by city employees or is somehow nefarious is absurd,” says Lanovaz.  “The use of terms like ‘blood-sucking vampires’ is unacceptable and does nothing to resolve tensions around this matter.”

At the same time as City Council is dragging its feet on addressing the tax shift, they continue to imply that there is a lack of understanding around the origin and rationale for the longstanding benefit.

“As we move into budget review in 2020 we ask that the Council be transparent, civil and respectful of the hard work, value and contribution city employees provide,” says Lanovaz.  “Our members are reasonable and want to be part of a respectful conversation with the Council.”

“Our members simply come to work every day to make the City a better and safer place and shouldn’t be subjected to insults and blame,” he says.

The scope of which employees will be impacted by this issue needs to be assessed. The benefit is outlined in at least one collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Calgary chapter of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) and it is yet to be determined how this will impact other collective agreements.

“In these economic times, when the City is looking to adjust budgets and looking at every aspect of operations City Council, City employees and Calgarians need to work together and be forward-thinking in resolution rather than sling insults, point fingers or assign blame,” says Lanovaz. “Only by working together in cooperation can we resolve these issues and focus on keeping Calgary as one of the most livable cities in the world.”

Backgrounder

D’Arcy Lanovaz is Chair of the Coalition of Civic Unions which represents employees across all disciplines within the City of Calgary.

CUPE Local 38 represents the administrative and technical workers at the City of Calgary and Enmax as well as Calgary Parking Authority workers.

Education rally – This is who we march for

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This is who we march for.  Today in Edmonton CUPE members who work in the K-12 sector as Educational Assistants, Custodial workers, tradespeople and others staged a rally and information picket to protest Jason Kenney’s cuts to education.  Kenney’s broken promises mean larger class sizes, fewer staff, high fees and reduced cleaning and maintenance at schools.  No one voted for this.  To see more pictures from today’s rally click the link below:

Rally and Information Picket Against Kenney’s Cuts to Education

 

Government wage rollbacks will hurt CUPE members

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You’ve likely heard that the Jason Kenney government is seeking wage rollbacks of between 2-5% for different groups of public sector union employees.

This represents another broken promise by Jason Kenney and it will hurt hundreds of thousands of Albertans who work hard every day in our provincial government and health care system.

I don’t need to tell you that many members of the public service haven’t seen a cost of living wage increase in years, so asking them to take a wage reduction is a slap in the face from a Premier who earns $200,000 per year on top of a $120,000 pension from his years as a Member of Parliament.

For the moment, the Kenney government is only seeking wage reductions for a limited group of union members that does not include CUPE. Unions (like AUPE, UNA and HSAA) who have collective agreements in place with arbitrated wage re-openers in 2019 are the subject of this attack.

Our friends and family members in UNA, HSAA and AUPE are under attack by Kenney,  who is seeking to use the wage re-opener arbitration process to roll back the wages of workers who haven’t had raises in at least two years. CUPE will stand with them as they fight back.

But while CUPE isn’t the union in Jason Kenney’s sites at the moment, these decisions affect us in several concrete ways:

  1. There are a couple of CUPE locals in the K-12 sector who have wage arbitrations this year. While the Kenney government has been silent on what position they will take in those arbitrations, there is no reason to believe they won’t seek wage reductions.
  2. Several other CUPE locals have ‘me-too’ agreements in their contracts which tie their wages to settlements made by the unions being attacked.
  3. Rest assured that if Jason Kenney can win wage reductions from AUPE, HSAA, the Nurses or other groups, they will try the same tactics with CUPE.  Just because we are not first, doesn’t mean we don’t have just as much on the line.

CUPE will do everything possible to fight wage reductions in the public sector. We will work with these unions and the Alberta Federation of Labour to let Jason Kenney know this is not an acceptable way to treat Alberta’s employees.  We need you to also speak out. Let your MLAs know what you think of this. Make your voices heard. Together, we can win back our Alberta.

 

In solidarity,

Rory Gill, President
CUPE Alberta