Travel Alberta workers ask for 26% raise

Last week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published an update regarding contract negotiations for workers employed with Travel Alberta.

The Crown corporation was established in 2009 to promote tourism within Alberta. They employ around two dozen workers in the province.

The previous collective agreement between Travel Alberta and these workers expired at the end of March, but bargaining began only earlier this month.

In addition to bargaining teams from the workers and the employer, a representative from the Provincial Bargaining and Compensation Office participated in the first round of negotiations.

The Provincial Bargaining and Compensation Office (previously called the Public Bargaining Coordination Office) was created by the NDP in 2015. They ensure that government funded entities implement government mandates during bargaining.

The NDP used the PBCO during 2017 negotiations, and the UCP willingly kept the office running during the 2020 bargaining season.

Having a PBCO representative at the bargaining table interferes with the workers’ ability to negotiate directly with their employer. It also encourages the employer to participate in bad faith bargaining by putting responsibility on the government for proposals.

Speaking of which, the PBCO representative put forward a wage proposal similar to that seen in other public sector negotiations this year: a 4-year contract with a 2% increase in each of the first two years and 1.75% in each of the last 4 years.

This is a pathetic offer, given that these workers got wage freezes in 2020, 2021, and 2022, followed by two increases—1.25% and 1.5%—in 2023. Plus, in the contract before that, they got two years of wage freezes followed by a measly 1% increase in 2019.

2017	0.00%
2018	0.00%
2019	1.00%
2020	0.00%
2021	0.00%
2022	0.00%
2023	2.75%

That’s a combined 3.75% over 7 years, or an average of just 0.54% per year.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index in Alberta grew from 135.1 in April 2016 to 168.6 just this past April, and increase of 33.5, or 24.79%.

So, over the course of the two most recent contracts for these workers, inflation grew by nearly 25%, but their wages grew by only 3.75%. This means that by the end of the last contract, these workers ended up with a cut to their real wages—wages adjusted for inflation—of 21.04%.

And yet, somehow, the PBCO thinks a 6.75% will make up for it in the new contract. That’s not even taking into account how much inflation will increase between now and 2028, when the PBCO wants the new contract to end.

The union responded with a much more reasonable offer: 13% in the first year of a 3-year contract, and 6.5% in each of the last two years. That’s a total of 26%.

That 26% will make up for the losses in the last two contracts, but won’t be enough for the workers to keep up with inflation over the next three years. But it’s way better than what the employer—or rather, the PBCO—offered.

Needless to say, the two parties didn’t agree to either of the proposals, and most of the negotiations focused on non-monetary items.

For example, the two parties agreed to remove discipline from a worker’s file after 18 months had passed since an incident. It’s currently 24 months.

As well, stepchildren were added to bereavement leave, and the contract now accommodates working from home in the definition for “workday”.

The bargaining team for the workers are Joanne Pinkney, an events and engagement coordinator for Travel Alberta; Craig Cameron, a product specialist for Travel Alberta; and Kate Robinson, a negotiator employed by AUPE.