Alberta Heads Toward a Showdown with Its Workers

With more than 23,000 civil servants represented by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees primed to strike, the ball is now in the United Conservative Party government’s court.

At a noon press conference Tuesday, AUPE president Guy Smith announced the union’s strike mandate, which can only be described as resounding. Just over 90 per cent approved strike action if necessary, with 80 per cent of the unionized direct employees of the provincial government casting a ballot.

So, over the next four months, unionized government employees can walk out any time after 72 hours’ notice. Meanwhile, earlier this month the government applied for and received permission to lock out AUPE’s members in the event of a breakdown in negotiations. So the government theoretically could also pull the trigger after 72 hours’ notice.

At the union’s short news conference, Smith said AUPE had no intention of rushing into a strike. “We are determined to get a deal at the table.”

Meanwhile, back at the legislature, Finance Minister Nate Horner, responding to an Opposition question, stood up and said, “If they’re serious about coming back to the table, we’ll be there.”

But at this point, if the government is serious about actually getting a negotiated deal with AUPE, they’re going to have to stop taunting the union with offers symbolically lower than those in settlements with other unions, notably the public sector deal with United Nurses of Alberta.

So the question at this point is whether the government of Premier Danielle Smith (who is no relation to either AUPE president Smith or United Nurses of Alberta president Heather Smith) can act like grown-ups long enough to get a deal that won’t make it look as if they’ve fumbled another important file.

On the other hand, there are certainly players in the United Conservative Party caucus who wouldn’t mind a fight with a union because they think they can simultaneously look tough and deflect attention from that dodgy contracts scandal, a measles epidemic and the UCP’s march toward privatization in health care, all of which must be generating unease among voters.

However, as long as there are Liberals in power in Ottawa, this government would always prefer to focus on a fight with the feds, a factor that might incline the UCP toward trying to reach a deal with AUPE. Indeed, the government published yet another public statement Tuesday, complaining pointlessly about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet picks.

The union noted in a bargaining update for members that it is “currently dealing with an employer that has proven to be particularly unco-operative throughout this process.”

“Recently, the Government of Alberta’s spokesperson dismissed our position as ‘rhetoric,’ despite the fact that we are advocating for wages that reflect the real inflation affecting our province.”

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to good faith negotiations and will continue to push for an equitable agreement,” the AUPE update said. “We call on the government to move beyond dismissive rhetoric and engage constructively with us to secure a fair and sustainable outcome.”

Another factor in these negotiations is that this is the first time Alberta civil servants have had a legal right to strike, thanks to the repeal in 2017 of unconstitutional legislation that had banned all public sector strikes in Alberta.

So what’s likely going to be required to reach a deal?

Well, to move things forward, the government is going to have to up its offer at least to annual pay increases of three per cent a year over four years — which is what the government emphasized in the United Nurses of Alberta agreement that was overwhelmingly ratified by the union’s members last month.

In a statement on April 3, the nurses’ union said that when the dust had settled, the new agreement would result in “pay increases of approximately 20 per cent over the life of the four-year Provincial Collective Agreement, plus significant increases in premium pay and other benefits.”

But at least an offer of four years of three per cent annual pay increases could get things moving in the right direction, although some sweeteners for civil servants would still be required to reach a deal.

So far, though, the government has offered increases of three per cent, three per cent, 2.75 per cent and 2.75 per cent, which AUPE clearly views as insulting.

Stand by for developments.