A stylized image of two hands clasping is overlayed over an image of a crowd of people protesting with various sings, such as "It's about fairness"

Wages

Since 2019, Alberta has had the slowest rate of wage growth in Canada. Why? Largely because policies implemented by the current provincial government have suppressed wages and weakened worker bargaining power. As a result, both our incomes and our standard of living are slipping.

We don’t have to accept ever-declining real wages! 

A protesting teacher holding a sign that says I am no longer accepting what I cannot change, I am changing what I cannot accept
Photo Credit: Ron Palmer

Make fair wages a top government priority

  • The goal MUST be wages that keep up with inflation
  • Make a commitment to enhancing, not eroding worker bargaining power
  • It’s good for the economy! (workers who earn more, spend more).

Lift the floor for workers

  • Introduce a $20/hour minimum wage immediately and index it to inflation moving forward
  • Move to a 40-hour work week (down from current 44 hours)

Increase worker bargaining power

  • Make it easier for workers to join unions and enjoy the benefits of collective bargaining (higher wages, better benefits, better working conditions)
  • Implement single-step certification AND sectoral bargaining (especially in hard-to-organize sectors like the low-wage service sector)
  • Prohibit the use of the Notwithstanding Clause to strip workers of their rights

Level the playing field

  • Introduce pay equity legislation (Alberta is the only province that doesn’t have these laws)
  • Introduce a Gig Workers’ Bill of Rights (we can’t allow corporations to continue building an underclass of workers)

Abolish rules that rig the system against workers

  • Get rid of “double breasting” in construction (and restore the right-to-strike in the sector)
  • Abolish the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (this program has been used to suppress wages)
  • Abolish UCP rules that make it easier for employers to avoid paying overtime
  • End the use of “secret mandates” in public sector bargaining (pay education, health care and other public sector workers what they’re worth!)