Wages to fall further behind, services will crumble.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Alberta Division President Rory Gill says Alberta’s Budget 2024 is a recipe for ‘low wages and poor services.’

Gill says that while the government is offering wage increases of 2% per year to public employees, budget documents admit that the cost of living is projected to increase by at least 2.5% in 2024 alone.

“Workers who have not had wage increases for up to eight years will see another year of falling behind,” said Gill.

Gill was also critical of funding for important public services like education, health and social services which don’t keep up with inflation. Over the term of the budget, inflation and population are set to increase by 6.2%, but funding is stalled at 3.9%.

“Conservatives have been starving public services for years,” said Gill. “Budget 24 continues the tradition and marks one more year of making things worse.”

CUPE was critical of the so-called ‘attraction bonus’ of $5,000 in tax credits for new workers. “How will that work, give someone five grand and then pay them a wage that never keeps up with inflation? Add that to the chance of losing access to the Canada Pension Plan and the new pharmacare plan and it’s a wonder anyone would move here.”

Gill also noted that an attraction bonus does nothing to retain workers already residing in Alberta.

Other budget highlights include:

• A 6% reduction in health care by 2027- after factoring inflation and population increases.
• A 7.3% reduction in Education (both k12 and post-secondary) by 2027 after factoring inflation and population growth.
• An 11% reduction in Social Services by 2027 after factoring inflation and population growth.
• Nothing to address record utility prices, car insurance, home insurance, or housing cos

At a time of record inflation, it’s ‘beyond absurd’ that Alberta would opt out of a national pharmacare program that would save families thousands of dollars in prescription fees. CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill called on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to reverse her position and offer financial relief to the province.

“It’s absurd to me that someone in Ontario or Quebec would be able to access a prescription plan, but Albertans would have to pay out of pocket for private insurance, if they can get it at all,” said Gill. “A national plan would save everyone money, and it would save lives.”

According to Angus Reid, 21% of Albertans experience cost related barriers in getting the medications they need. That doesn’t factor in others who manage the expense of a private plan but would save money with a national system.

Gill said opting out would hurt efforts to recruit and retain workers, especially in the health care sector, as workers would opt for provinces where they and the people they care for are part of a better healthcare plan.

“Health care providers care about things like drug plans,” said Gill. “We already have a shortage of health care workers; we don’t need to add to the problem.”

Custodial and other support staff at the Calgary Board of Education have negotiated a 7.75% wage increase over the course of this school year. The 800 workers, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 40 (CUPE 40) ratified the deal on Saturday.

CUPE 40 President Clay Gordon says the deal is better than the provincial government’s initial wage offer of 2.75%. Workers will get a 5% wage increase retroactive to the beginning of the school year, and a further 2.75% upon ratification.

The average support staff wage in Alberta is just $34,300 per year.

“After eight years without a wage increase, it’s still not enough,” said Gordon. “But it’s what we could get, and we will be back to the negotiating table when this deal expires in August. So we will be asking for more to make up for lost time.”

Gordon said his members deserve credit for making ‘a lot of noise’ about how unhappy they were with their low wages. “We had purple shirt days, rallies, demonstrations, letters and other ways to make the government understand we need to keep up with inflation, not fall further behind.”

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill says this is the third group of CUPE workers to negotiate wage increases that are better than the provincial offer. Gill says there are 28 other school districts still in negotiations with CUPE – and that he expects others to follow the trends set by CUPE 40 in Calgary.

“The only way the UCP can avoid school strikes is to recognize that workers can’t go eight years without wage increases. Inflation is high and they need to value the work of taking care of students.”

Over 400 educational assistants, clerical staff, therapists and technicians employed by the Parkland School Division have voted overwhelmingly to join the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). In an Alberta Labour Relations Board vote counted today, employees voted 97.8% to leave their independent association and join Canada’s largest union. There was an 80% turnout.

Parkland School Division includes 23 schools west of Edmonton in Stony Plain, Spruce Grove and surrounding areas.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill welcomed the new members, saying they chose CUPE for the benefits of being part of a larger organization.

“School board workers have a lot of challenges ahead,” said Gill. “Most have not had a wage increase in eight years. The average wage for an Educational Assistant is just $26,400. Employees at Parkland believe we are all stronger together, and their votes reflect that.”

“K-12 support staff are greatly undervalued in Alberta. These are the people who educate our kids – they deserve financial security and CUPE will work hard to make sure that happens.”

CUPE represents 11,500 K-12 employees in Alberta.