“I’ve been around a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this level of cooperation within Alberta’s labour movement.”
It’s true, Guy Smith has been around a long time. He was first elected President of AUPE in 2009 and served as a Vice-President and activist for several years before that. Smith has, for decades, been a leader in Alberta’s labour movement.
When Guy Smith says he has seen something new, he means it.
AUPE hosted union leaders and activists from across Alberta on January 21, 2025. They met to unite under a single banner and purpose: The Common Front, a coalition of unions that are determined to win in bargaining.
“We may work for different bosses and live different lives, but we all face the same struggles,” says President Smith. “It does not matter whether you work in a government office, hospital, school, grocery store or construction site – Albertans are ready to fight for a better life, and that includes better wages and workplaces.”
AUPE is an integral force in The Common Front, proudly working together with the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) and their dozens of affiliate unions. We also have the most members who are in bargaining as well as the most members on the precipice of strike action.
It does not matter whether you work in a government office, hospital, school, grocery store or construction site – Albertans are ready to fight for a better life, and that includes better wages and workplaces.
Many other union leaders within The Common front work in the public sector. AUPE members work right alongside them, as well as members of the United Nurses of Alberta, Health Sciences Association of Alberta, and several post-secondary academic and non-academic staff associations.
Other public sector unions important to the Common Front include the Alberta Teachers Association, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Amalgamated Transit Union.
The cost-of-living crisis matters to all of us, but our common struggle goes deeper than that. Bargaining in Alberta faces a serious challenge no matter which union you belong to: the Government of Alberta is interfering at the bargaining table and forcing our employers to offer us bad deals.
The Common Front was born to help us overcome these challenges, to share information, to strategize support for each other, and to join forces when needed.
I’ve been around a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this level of cooperation within Alberta’s labour movement.
The Common Front is made up of more than public sector workers, however. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 is also a leader within the coalition, with members who mostly work in Superstores, Safeways, care centres, casinos, and even the oil and gas sector.
Other private sector unions in the Common Front include UNIFOR, Building Trades of Alberta, Laborers’ International Union of North America, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
This Common Front summit united many diverse unions under the same banner of strength and solidarity and a commitment to support each other at the worksite and on the picket lines if necessary. That work will continue and intensify as unions reach critical points in their bargaining.
The AFL is also taking the Common Front message of solidarity across Alberta to several communities in the next couple of months. AUPE members and activists in those communities will be notified and invited to attend to add their voice to the Common Front.
A collective voice that is getting louder and louder and harder for the bosses to ignore!