The union representing government workers is vowing to protest two bills, tabled in the legislature Wednesday.
Bills 45 and 46, the Public Sector Services Continuation Act and the Public Service Salary Restraint Act, were introduced Wednesday, and almost immediately sparked a response from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).
Both pieces of legislation specifically target public sector workers, some of whom are represented by the AUPE.
Bill 45 was introduced by the province as a bill to protect Albertans from illegal strikes, and would toughen penalties for unions and individuals who take part in wildcat strikes.
Penalties include a $1 million penalty for the union, per day of an illegal strike, to cover the costs of the job action, and increasing fines from $1000 per day, to $250,000.
The legislation also suspends the collection of dues by the union.
“It’s a draconian law that will absolutely cripple unions that go on illegal strikes,” AUPE President Guy Smith said. “I mean, it’s already illegal for our members to go on strike.”
According to the province, the Public Service Salary Restraint Act, Bill 46, would provide a framework for the province and the AUPE to negotiate an agreement that the province said would work with the province’s fiscal restraint policy.
Union officials said if Bill 46 is passed, it would impose a settlement on the AUPE, even though both the province and the union had agreed to binding arbitration – with meetings set for February.
The legislation states that if a deal is not reached by the end of January, the contract would be imposed; the union has been without a contract since March.
“We want stability too,” Finance Minister Doug Horner said. “Why put it to a third party that is not related to the taxpayers or the employees, we want to sit down and negotiate.”
Bill 46 places a four-year contract on the AUPE, with a wage freeze for the first two years, and a one percent increase in each of the following two years.
The second year also includes a lump sum payment of $875 for each eligible employee.
“We believe the government is bound and determined to ram this through,” Smith said. “It’s very undemocratic.”
The AUPE reacted to Wednesday’s announcement with an impromptu protest at the Alberta Legislature that afternoon.
Plus, opposition parties are slamming both bills, saying the process will affect the standard of living for workers.
“This is showing the Redford government for what it really is, an enemy of the working people,” NDP Leader Brian Mason said.
“We will be trying to put forward some amendments,” Wildrose and Official Opposition Leader Danielle Smith said. “But let’s keep in mind these guys have a majority, they’re going to be able to force it through.”
The province has put forward motions for both bills, aimed at limiting time for debate.
The finance minister defended the legislation, referring to other recent labour deals reached with teachers and doctors that also included salary freezes.
“The deal that we had on the table previous to us introducing the legislation as actually a better deal than what the legislation would contemplate,” Horner said, referring to a deal presented to the union the previous week. “It’s not that we’re saying this is the deal, what we’re saying is we want to sit down and have a deal that’s fair to taxpayers, fair to the employees.”
The AUPE said other unions have had better deals in the past.
“They can’t compare us to the teachers’ contract because you need to go back to the last contract where the teachers did extremely well, and the AUPE members paid their dues and took some hits in the last contract as well,” Smith said.
“We worked very well with the ATA and the teacher’s union to get an agreement, a long term stable agreement,” Horner said. “We worked well with the doctors to move that program forward, that’s what we’re asking for here.”
Union officials said they did not have a chance to respond to the deal Horner referred to, before they heard that Bills 45 and 46 were being prepared.
With files from Laura Tupper and Veronica Jubinville
