Earlier this month, the Alberta government’s Collective Bargaining Information Services department published an update on contract negotiations in Alberta. The update included contract changes that occurred in October 2023.
One of the changes was a new employment contract between National Diabetes Trust and 7 of their workers.
These workers are employed by National Diabetes Trust as drivers in the Edmonton area, and they are members of Local 987 of the Teamsters Canada.
National Diabetes Trust, formerly known as Clothesline, is the largest charitable clothing and small household good collection service in Canada. It is also the social enterprise of Diabetes Canada.
The new 4-year contract will see these workers receive a 9% wage increase over the life of the contract.
| 1 April 2023 | 3% |
| 1 April 2024 | 2% |
| 1 April 2025 | 2% |
| 1 April 2026 | 2% |
Technically, if we account for cumulative increases, it actually ends up being a 9.3% wage increase.
Their previous contract, which was only 2 years long and expired this past March, gave the workers a wage freeze in the first year and only a 1 % increase in the second year, which took effect August 2022.
Here’s a look at their wage increases over the last 5 years.
| 1 April 2018 | 2% |
| 1 April 2019 | 1% |
| 1 April 2020 | 1% |
| 1 August 2021 | 0% |
| 1 August 2022 | 1% |
That’s a combined 5%. But take a look at this.
In April 2017, Alberta’s consumer price index was 137.4. In April 2022, it was 157.0. That’s an increase of 19.6, or 14.26%.
In other words, during the same period when these workers received a 5% wage increase (5.1%, technically), inflation actually rose nearly 3 times that much.
This means that these workers received a 9% reduction in real wages during this period. Real wages are wages adjusted for inflation.
So, the 9% wage increase in the new contract is just getting these workers back up to the level they needed to be to afford inflation as of last April. And that’s not even taking into account inflation since April 2022 or inflation in the next 3 years.
For example, the consumer price index as of April 2023 was 163.7, up 4.27% from the 157.0 the previous April. That means inflation between April 2017 and April 2023 rose 19.14%.
Meanwhile, wages (including the increase this past April) rose just 8.24% during the same period. The workers are short roughly 11%. Even if you factor in the three 2% wages over the next 3 years (a total of 14.87%), these workers will still see a drop of 4.27% in real wages by the end of the contract.
And keep in mind that this is only if inflation stays at 0% over the next 3 years. If inflation continues to rise, then real wages will drop even more.
For example, in the 5 months since the contract went into effect (April 2023), inflation in Alberta has already risen by another 1.4%.
