Campaign prevents privatization of group homes
There has been no break in jobs cuts imposed on Government of Alberta (GOA) workers – but AUPE is fighting back and has had one big success.
The GOA told us in October 2020 that it was targeting up to 930 positions in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. It has been pushing those cuts through despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The spread of the deadly virus and the economic crisis have put even greater demand on public services.
The pandemic has brought increased workloads. It has made working conditions worse. It means the risk to your health is higher than ever. It has resulted in constant confusion and chaos over how to work safely and how to work remotely.
Despite all this, AUPE members continue to get the job done. Albertans continue to get the services they need.
The government’s reward for this dedication has been to hold an axe over jobs.
The latest cuts
In the last two weeks, the Government of Alberta has abolished:
- 14 jobs at the Agriculture Field Crop Development Program at the Lacombe Research Centre;
- Eight jobs in the Justice and Solicitor General department in Edmonton; and
- Two jobs, one in Edmonton and one in Calgary, in the Infrastructure department.
In addition, the government has revealed it is looking to privatize or outsource more government jobs, including:
- 130 jobs at the Land Titles, Corporate and Personal Property Registries; and
- 85 jobs in maintenance at the Federal Building in Edmonton, the Spy Hill corrections complex in Calgary, the Michener Centre South in Red Deer and the Edmonton Law Courts.
The message from the UCP government is clear. It does not like public-sector workers. It does not value public-sector workers. It wants to take your tax dollars and those of other working Albertans and give them to corporations and the wealthy.
It wants to hand over public services to private corporations and it wants to slash the pay of any workers who remain. It is seeking to cut pay for all GOA members by four per cent in the first year of the next collective-bargaining agreement and follow that with a three-year wage freeze.
If your worksite, your department or your job has not been hit yet, it may be next on the list.
There is good news
Among the 930 jobs targeted by the GOA in October 2020 were 344 AUPE members working at group homes for Albertans with disabilities in Edmonton and Calgary.
The government was looking to privatize those facilities, meaning the workers would lose their jobs and have to reapply for them with new operators, facing the prospect of worse working conditions, lower wages, fewer benefits and no access to a public-sector sector pensions – if they were lucky enough to get hired.
Those jobs have been saved, thanks to a hard-fought campaign led by those group-home workers and the families of residents, who united to resist this government’s privatization agenda.
They pushed to make their case directly to the Minister of Community and Social Services. They organized meetings with MLAs. They went door-to-door telling Albertans why this plan was a bad one. They held a rally at the Legislature. They enlisted the support of various school boards and local councils.
In short, they fought back. And they won.
Some questions remain about how these group homes will be protected for future generations of Albertans with complex health needs, but the current residents will remain in their homes and the workers will keep their jobs.
With the Alberta government expected to present its next budget on Feb. 25, we can only expect to see the government target more jobs.
It’s time to prepare to fight back to save jobs and to protect vital public services. To find out what you can do, please contact AUPE organizers Trevor Zimmerman at t.zimmerman@aupe.org or Madelaine Sommers at m.sommers@aupe.org.