Kenney’s job-cremation program inflicting unnecessary suffering
CALGARY – The jobs bad news continued in Calgary today (Friday, Oct. 30), with more workers being axed at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
Four more members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) were laid off, adding to the hundreds of post-secondary jobs cut across the province this year.
“Every day seems to bring bad news for Albertans,” says Bobby-Joe Borodey, vice-president of AUPE, which represents more than 90,000 workers. “This week, we heard that about 2,000 jobs will be lost with the merger of Cenovus and Husky Energy. Rather than helping Albertans, the UCP response to the jobs crisis is to fire more Albertans.”
Borodey adds: “In the last few weeks, the Alberta government has announced that 11,000 health-care jobs and nearly 1,000 public-service jobs will be cut. Premier Jason Kenney has implemented a job-cremation program that is inflicting unnecessary suffering on Alberta families who are already hurting.”
SAIT is expecting to lose about 230 jobs as a result of the UCP budget and more as a result on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Just when Albertans who have lost work are looking to upgrade their skills to help them find work, this government is crippling post-secondary institutions and making learning more expensive for students,” says Borodey.
“The only ones this government is helping are the large, already profitable corporations to whom Kenney is giving about $5 billion of our money in wasteful tax cuts that have failed to create jobs.”
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Bobby-Joe Borodey is available for comment.
For more information, contact Terry Inigo-Jones, communications officer, 403-831-4394.