EDMONTON -- The provincial government is looking to reduce public sector wages by two per cent when negotiations start after Thursday.
After months of delaying negotiations with Alberta's 180,000 public sector workers, the UCP is ready to go to the bargaining table with a clear objective in mind.
“We cannot ask Alberta taxpayers to fund public-sector pay raises during a time when far too many workers in the private sector have lost their jobs and many others have seen significant pay cuts in recent years," Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said in a press release.
Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), says the 65,000 workers he represents are concerned.
"We've been protesting against the government's actions so far. I can only imagine that those protests will increase," Smith said.
In an email to CTV News Edmonton, a United Nurses of Alberta spokesperson said AHS has been instructed to ask for a three per cent wage rollback for its members.
NDP Labour critic Christina Gray said the government is trying to bully public sector workers.
"They are gearing up to attack frontline wages and that is the first step to going to war with corrections officers, nurses, teachers, the people who clean our schools," Gray said.
Toews said the government respects and admires public sector workers, but their wages are "significantly higher than in other comparable provinces."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Matt Woodman
