Unions launch next phase of fightback campaign
For Immediate Release
March 4, 2020
EDMONTON – Some of Alberta’s largest unions have launched the next phase of their campaign to oppose the Kenney government’s agenda of cuts, privatization, deregulation and attacks on workers’ wages and workers’ rights.
“The new campaign is built around the phrase that we’re hearing over and over from the thousands of Albertans we represent,” says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
“They’re looking at what the UCP is doing to doctors, health care workers and teachers; they’re looking at the UCP’s corporate tax giveaways, and their decisions to cut child care and drug benefits for seniors. They’re looking at all of these things and saying: ‘That’s not what I voted for.’”
The AFL’s new Not What I Voted For campaign includes a website, an email tool and a number of video ads.
“During the 2019 election campaign, Jason Kenney’s list of promises was everywhere: ‘Jobs! Economy! Pipelines!’ But, that’s not what the UCP government has been delivering. With this campaign, we want to encourage Albertans to tell UCP MLAs that this is not what people voted for and remind them that they don’t really have a mandate for most of this very damaging agenda.”
“Unions are one of the only effective counterbalances to the power of corporations and the wealthy – as well as the political parties (e.g. the UCP) who work for them,” concludes McGowan. “We take our obligation to stand up for ordinary working people very seriously. This latest campaign is a demonstration of that commitment.”
There are 29 unions affiliated with the AFL, including big ones like the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA), the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the United Steelworkers (USW). Together, they represent 180,000 working Albertans.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Ramona Franson
Director of Communications