The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) is calling for action in a coordinated, province-wide day of protests planned for the end of May.
Outside the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) building in northeast Calgary on Saturday, the AFL gathered union leaders from a variety of sectors in the province to introduce the call to action.
“As the old saying goes, we are the ones that were waiting for. So we want to provide a platform for all those Albertans, and we know there are literally millions of them, who are frustrated with the direction that this province is taking,” said AFL president Gill McGowan.
He listed concerns with healthcare, affordability, private school funding, possible separation, and more as the reasons this initiative has come together. But says the provincial government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to end the teachers’ strike was the catalyst.
“In the process of implementing a radical mandate that they weren’t elected for, they are ignoring many of the things that Albertans want us to deal with,” McGowan said.
Event organizers stressed that everyone is welcome on the May 29 day of action — businesses, religious groups, or others — and said they want to present a united front of what they call the silent majority.
“Regardless of your political affiliations or your workplace, Alberta workers want the same thing: We want fair wages, safe working conditions, job security, and respect,” said Karen Kuprys, the second vice-president of the United Nurses of Alberta.
Wycliffe Oduor, president of Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 710, says it’s about building a better future in the province.
“We are doing it for our generation, we are doing it for the generation that will come, that will reap the values that we will instill in this government because it’s lacking,” he said.
McGowan adds that they opted for protests rather than a general strike because of how the teachers’ strike ended with the use of Bill 2, which used the notwithstanding clause to force the teachers back to work.