Hey, fellow workers. As mentioned, my name is Kim Siever, and I’m a labour journalist for The Alberta Worker, an independent media outlet based here in Lethbridge, which I founded about 5 years ago, during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the last half-decade, I’ve written hundreds of stories on collective bargaining agreements, both in the private sector and the public sector. As a result, I’ve seen how public sector workers have been treated by the Alberta government: wage freezes under Rachel Notley, proposed wage cuts under Jason Kenney, and below-inflation increases under Danielle Smith.
On top of that, as you all know, Smith has forced the hands of employers through mandates from the Provincial Bargaining Compensation Office, which interferes with the right of workers to negotiate directly with their employer. Plus, she’s used the Dispute Inquiry Board to shut down work action, interfering with workers’ constitutionally- guaranteed right to strike. Workers just like you!
Let’s review what workers have received over the last 10 years under these 3 premiers.
Starting with Local 1825, which represents 200 support workers in the Holy Spirit school division: 2% in 2016, then two years of wage freezes, then 2% in 2019, then three years of wage freezes, then 2.75% split between the last two years. So, 5 years of wage freezes and a combined increase of 6.75%. Inflation during the same period was over 27%, leaving these workers with a 20% cut to real wages.
Local 290 representing over 30 custodial workers in the same school division were given 4 years of freezes, followed by 2% in 2020, two more years of wage freezes, and then 2.75% in the last two years of their contract. That’s 6 years of freezes and just 4.75% combined, leaving them with a 22% real wage cut.
Nearly 200 educational workers out in Taber, represented by Local 3203 and employed by the Horizon School Division, got 3 years of wage freezes, then anywhere from nothing to 2% in 2019, then 4 years of wage freezes, and 2.75% last year. That’s 8 years of wage freezes for some of these workers. Real wages dropped by between 22% and 24% over the last decade.
Finally, the Lethbridge School Division. The 450 or so workers, who are represented by local 2843 and 290, got the same deals: 2% in 2016, 6 years in a row of wage freezes, then 2.75% in the last two years. Their inflation-adjusted wages fell by 22% since 2015.
None of these 900 education workers in the 3 school divisions saw real wages perform better than a 20% cut since 2015. And all of them are working on expired collective agreements right now. My understanding is that they’ve all been offered an 8% increase for their new contract. How is 8% going to be enough when they’re more than 20% behind? No wonder they’re all going to mediation this month.
They aren’t the first CUPE education support workers to go to mediation. Over 4,000 workers in Edmonton and Fort McMurray tried mediation, and now they’re on strike. Over 2,000 workers in the Calgary and Edmonton areas tried mediation, and most of them went on strike last month. And unless the mediators recognize how this province has been screwing over education workers for at least a decade, we could see strike mandates coming out of Southern Alberta, too.
When will this government learn that workers deserve to have a place to live, to have food to eat, and to be able to take care of their families? And they shouldn’t have to take on a second or third job to do it.
Fellow workers, I stand before you today to express my support for your struggle. Because your struggle isn’t just your struggle. Your struggle is my struggle. Your struggle is our struggle. Your struggle is a class struggle.
Solidarity.
