Last week, I received a message from a library worker in Lethbridge, which said that there will be an information picket at the downtown branch of the Lethbridge Public Library.
Local 70 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees represents about 100 workers employed by Lethbridge Public Library.
These workers include librarians, literacy and learning coordinators, Bookmobile coordinators, communications coordinators, technicians, visual arts curators, customer assistants, and those working in facility services, IT, administrative support, circulation, and collections.
According to the collective bargaining agreement database maintained by Alberta Mediation Services, the most recent collective agreement for these workers expired nearly 3 years ago, at the end of 2022.
That means that these workers have had their wages frozen since January 2022, the last time they got a raise, which was before inflation skyrocketed the following summer.
A new agreement could include retroactive wages once ratified, but it doesn’t help the workers right now.
Speaking of wages, here are the increases they received in their previous agreement:
| 1 January 2019 | 1.00% |
| 1 January 2020 | 1.50% |
| 1 January 2021 | 1.50% |
| 1 January 2022 | 2.00% |
That’s a combined increase of 6%, or 6.13% if you include cumulative increases. This works out to 1.5% (1.53%) per year, on average.
During that same period, the consumer price index in Alberta increased from 138.9 in January 2018 to 152.8 in January 2022, a jump of 13.9 points, or 10.01%.
And since inflation was 10.01% during the same period that these workers received a wage increase of just 6% (6.13%), it means these workers have had a cut to real wages—wages adjusted for inflation— 4.01% (3.88%).
And remember, that’s only the inflation up to the beginning of 2022. Inflation between January 2018 and September 2025 actually increased 24.12%, which is more than double what it was when we cut it off at January 2022.
This gives the workers a real wage cut of 18.12% (17.99%) as of September 2025. If they don’t receive at least 18% in the first 3 years of their new contract, whenever it’s ratified, they will be behind inflation once again.
Assuming it’s a four-year contract, there will be next year’s inflation to account for in negotiating wages, as well. Plus, if it is a 4-year contract and they ratify it soon, it will give them only a year or so before that one expires, too.
This is the last bargaining unit employed by the City of Lethbridge to still be working off an expired contract. Other Local 70 workers not employed at the libraries received a new contract a year ago.
In an email to The Alberta Worker, Dax Law reiterated this:
The collective agreement for CUPE 70 workers at LPL expired in 2022. Library workers need a fair deal, now, that responds to the current cost-of-living crisis. We hope that the City of Lethbridge can see the value that library workers bring to our community and that they will respond accordingly.
Law is Local 70’s unit director over library workers. He also expressed concern over the expanded roles of library workers and the increased cost of living.
Lethbridge Public Library workers support learning, connection, and safety for everyone who walks through the library’s doors.
Over the last few years, their roles have expanded to meet the evolving needs of our community. During this time, the cost of living has increased significantly. Rent, utilities, groceries, and insurance costs have skyrocketed, and, sadly, their wages have not kept pace.
The information picket will run from noon until 13:30 tomorrow at the downtown branch of the Lethbridge Public Library, located at the corner of 5 Avenue and Stafford Drive South.
