AUPE negotiations update: Minister Horner

President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Nate Horner issued the following statement on bargaining between the Government of Alberta and the AUPE.

“Alberta’s government values and appreciates the hard work of its 22,000 employees who are members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).

Unfortunately, union leadership has not been forthright with its members and sold the idea that a successful strike vote would provide more leverage at the bargaining table. Union leadership broke off negotiations and asked the mediator to withdraw from the process, despite government negotiators indicating there was room to move. The government’s previous offer to the union included general wage increases of about 12 per cent over four years for all employees, along with market-adjustment salary increases for occupations facing recruitment and retention issues. This is the same general wage increase that nearly 60 other Alberta public sector bargaining groups have recently settled for.

AUPE is demanding a 29 per cent wage increase over four years. There is no evidence of a wage settlement that large for any group of workers in Alberta, or in Canada. If government met AUPE’s demands and then extended those increases to all other public sector employees, the cumulative increase would cost taxpayers about $23 billion over four years. That’s about the same amount of money that’s in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, or two years of funding for kindergarten to Grade 12 education.

If AUPE leadership continues to be unreasonable and unrealistic, the situation could escalate to a strike by government workers or a government-initiated lockout. Neither option is desirable. I encourage AUPE leadership to come back to the table with realistic aspirations.

Contingency planning is ongoing to support core government services in the event of a strike or a lockout.”