Achi news desk-
The Alberta government is offering a 7.5 per cent pay rise amid collective bargaining, with government workers calling for a 26 per cent boost.
More than 22,000 members of the Alberta Provincial Employees Union are covered by negotiations that began this year, including workers in social services, corrections and natural resource conservation.
In a previous update to members, the AUPE called the government’s opening four-year proposal an insult.
The union’s counter offer spans three years.
Finance Minister Nate Horner said his United Conservative Party government values ​​the public service but does not see publicly funded workers getting the same type of settlement the union is demanding. anywhere else in Canada.
Horner calls the union’s wage situation extreme.
“The government of Alberta will not increase taxes or cut programs, services or workers to give unprecedented wage increases that will result in paying well above market rates,” Horner said in a news release Monday.
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Guy Smith, president of the union, said that the government has been aware of the union’s proposals since March 6, and that the union will not budge from what it calls fair and reasonable demands.
Smith called Horner’s statement unnecessary and unhelpful.
“The cost of living has increased for everyone, and all workers have the right to fair, livable compensation from their employers,” he said.
Smith said negotiations should take place in good faith and at the bargaining table, not through the press.
“There is no reason any government employee should be unable to afford food, clothing and rent while working full-time for a very wealthy state government,” said the union’s February update.
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
